When the Truth Comes Out
by RiverMonster2014
Summary: When a woman is murdered Jane ends up at odds with a person of interest who she believes is guilty of murder. Jane's life gets more complicated when Maura starts dating someone who confronts Jane about a secret she's hidden for years. Which forces Jane to decided whether or not to confess to her best friend or continue to deny her feelings. Rizzles. Rated for language and content
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys so this is it. The story that is bringing my inspiration back to life and giving me a break from my usual thing. It may seem to speed along but it's only the first chapter trust me there's a lot more to this story then a murder. Also on that note I will mention this is a Rizzles story but it will take time to progress. So yes there will be brief romances that aren't Rizzles but they won't be with someone like Casey, Dean, Ian, Jack, Kent etc. I hope you enjoy this story. I really do. So thank you very much for reading, please take the time to tell me what you think thus far and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 1

Detective Jane Rizzoli eyed the crowd gathered outside of the yellow crime scene tap. Most of them were passersby who just wanted to see what was going on. Others were patrons from the bar across the street from the scene. A few reporters had also joined the audience in hopes for a story to release on the news later that night. For the homicide detectives of the Boston Police Department it was just another day on the job.

"Bruising around her eye and jaw. Defensive wounds on her lower arms suggesting she fought back…" Jane glanced down at the medical examiner kneeling next to the victim. Dr. Maura Isles looked up when she felt eyes on her. "If you're about to make a comment about me guessing I am simply making an observation."

"I was actually going to ask if you had an idea on cause of death, but I appreciate the thought." Jane had worked with Maura for years and the two had fallen into a pattern of friendly teasing and serious work.

Maura cocked an eyebrow at her friend picking up on the sarcasm that had been directed at her. Jane nodded at the victim urging Maura to continue her preliminary observations on the victim. Sighing Maura turned her attention to the woman who laid lifeless next to her. She pushed aside the scarf around the victim's neck. "There appears to be more bruising around her neck. It does not look as if it were caused by her scarf."

"So she was strangled?"

"Perhaps." Maura confirmed as she rose from her position. "But I won't know for sure until I get her back to the morgue."

Jane crossed her arms over her chest shooting a sideways glance at the medical examiner. "You're no fun Maura."

Maura shook her head almost rolling her eyes at the detective. Her job wasn't to guess. It was to provide evidence and facts about the victim. Jane started to move away when the techs began to prepare the victim for transport. Maura followed suit a moment later. She wanted to get back and determine what the woman had gone through when she died. It bothered her that anyone was capable of taking a life.

XXXXX

Detective Vince Korsak stood with his partner on the porch of their victim's, Grace Harper, home. They had learned that she had a fiancé, Cody Stanton, and that the two had lived together. Korsak and Jane had gone to notify him of his fiancée's murder and ask him a few questions. It was never an easy thing to do and it was something the detectives hated about their job.

"I can't stand this part of the job… telling someone their loved one has been killed…" She reached forward to ring the doorbell again. Chimes went off behind the door then fell silent. "Maybe nobody is home?"

Korsak had just taken a step away from his partner to peak through a window when the front door opened. A man in his early thirties standing in sweatpants and a t-shirt eyed the detectives but didn't speak. He was handsome, with short golden hair and green eyes. Jane felt bad for him.

It took her a minute to orient herself but when she did she pulled back her blazer to show her badge. "I'm Detective Rizzoli, this is my partner Detective Korsak. We're Homicide Detectives for the Boston Police Department. Are you Cody Stanton?"

The man didn't respond right away. He looked exhausted almost dazed. When he finally did speak his voice was soft but heavy with obvious fatigue. "Yeah I'm Cody. You're homicide detectives? What are detectives doing around here?" For a minute Cody remained confused at the detective's presence. Jane was about to continue when she noticed the color drain from Cody's face. Suddenly he looked panicked and worried any trace of his tiredness disappeared. "Oh my God is it Grace? Did something happen to Grace?!"

Jane glanced at Korsak, who nodded and took point. "Mr. Stanton why don't we go inside and have a seat." The older detective stepped forward to put a hand on Mr. Stanton's shoulder in order to comfort him and to get him to move inside. Mr. Stanton nodded and allowed Korsak to lead him into the living room when he collapsed into a chair. Jane followed behind the two men shutting the door behind her. she sat with Korsak across from Mr. Stanton. At first neither of the detectives spoke wanting to give Cody a minute to get his bearings.

He sat staring at his hands unwilling or unable to look at the two detectives. Jane decided the he was waiting for them so she spoke up. "Mr. Stanton I'm sorry to have to tell you but your fiancée was found dead this morning." Jane flinched when Mr. Stanton took a sharp breath and began to tremble as the words registered with him. "You have our condolences we are sorry for your loss." Tears began to roll down Mr. Stanton's cheeks. Jane reached out to give a comforting squeeze on his knee.

"We understand this is extremely hard Mr. Stanton but we would like to ask you a few questions when you're ready." Korsak was soft-spoken as he addressed Mr. Stanton. He didn't want to push the man understanding it was important he allowed the man time to process what he had just been told.

Jane and Korsak sat quietly and patiently as Mr. Stanton cried. Every now and then a word or two would slip from his mouth but not much more than that. Korsak rose to look around the room as they waited, leaving Jane to watch Mr. Stanton.

After a while his trembling stopped and he looked up at Jane with red eyes. He wiped them on his sleeve and took a deep shaky breath. Jane noticed that he looked tired once more the panic having turning into sadness. He looked like a man who was broken.

"Mr. Stanton if you want we can come back and talk tomorrow if you need some time," Jane offered, looking at Korsak for his approval. He gave it with a nod.

"No… No it's alright I want to help you anyway I can," he proclaimed his voice shaky. "Please call me Cody. Mr. Stanton just doesn't sound right."

"Of course Cody," Jane nodded giving him a small smile. "Can you tell us about your fiancée? Did she like to go out by herself or maybe with friends?"

"Grace never liked going anywhere without someone with her. She said it made it easier to meet people and to get out of unwanted propositions from drunk guys," he recalled. His focus left Jane and Korsak as he thought about Grace. He let a sad smile cross his face. "She was always careful when she was out. Hell she even did some self-defense training after a friend of hers was attacked."

"When was her friend attacked?" Korsak inquired.

"Two years ago I think," he shook his head. "Grace wasn't with Jen when it happened. She heard about it from another friend."

"Did Grace go out last night to a club maybe or a bar?" Jane took over again. She and Korsak normally switched between asking questions but when they didn't Jane would take the lead.

"Last night?" Cody ran a hand through his hair causing some parts to stick straight up. "Last night was Sunday… um yeah Grace went out with a friend of ours. Her name is Alex we went to school together."

"What is Alex's full name?"

"Alexis Eldsfield." Cody paused turning to meet Jane's eye. "You don't think she could have had anything to do with this?"

"As far as we know she was the last person to see your fiancée alive, whether that means she had anything to do with Grace's murder we'll have to figure that out," Jane explained to him. She was actually surprised they had gotten a lead so early in the case. It was unusual but not unheard of. "Ms. Eldsfield wasn't the person who called 911 is there any reason she would have left Grace alone?"

Cody rose from his seat and made his way over to a shelf. He picked up a picture frame and ran his fingers over the picture it held. His back was to the detectives but Jane could tell he was thinking.

"Alex isn't a bad person Detective Rizzoli. She just forgets that not everyone is as capable of taking care of themselves as she is. If she left Grace alone at a bar or a club or where ever they went I'm sure it was for a good reason."

"She sounds like a handful," Korsak spoke up for the first time in a while.

Cody smiled turning to face them again. He handed Korsak the picture he'd been holding. "The three of us went diving down in Florida last year. One of the other divers in the group got a little too friendly with Alex. She made her point by pinning his arm behind his back and threatening to break is fingers."

Korsak handed the photo to Jane. She recognized Cody and Grace immediately both were smiling happily as if nothing else in the world mattered. The third person in the picture Jane assumed was Alexis Eldsfield. She was good-looking but not in the same vein as Grace. Her smile was one of an overjoyed kid who won a trophy. She certainly didn't look like a killer but looks could be deceiving.

"You looked happy," Jane remarked.

"We were. All three of us."

"Cody we have one last question," Korsak informed him. "Did Grace have any enemies anyone who might have wanted to hurt her?"

"Enemies? No Detective Korsak not that I know of. Grace was friends with everyone. People loved her. I'm sorry."

"You've given us a place to start Cody thank you," Jane assured him. "If we have any more questions we'll be in contact. I'll give you my card in case you think of anything else that may help with the investigation or just need to talk."

Cody took the card that was offered to him. Jane could tell he was numb at the moment and knew he would probably breakdown after they left. He led them out thanking them again before he shut the door behind them. Korsak and Jane headed towards their parked car Jane moving to get into the driver's side.

"Let's see what Nina can dig up on Alexis Eldsfield before we go talk to her."

"We could have Frankie pick her up," Korsak suggested.

"I want to have an idea about who we're dealing with before we do that," Jane explained. "Besides I want to talk to Maura about the autopsy. Maybe she found something that will help."

"You think this Eldsfield woman is good for it?" Korsak asked.

"She's the best suspect we have at the moment," Jane replied. "If she is guilty I have a feeling she's the kind of person that gets spooked easily."

Jane had never been one to make assumptions too early on in an investigation but she had felt suspicious of Eldsfield after hearing Cody Stanton's description of her. Grace had been covered in bruises when they found her. It was possible that Eldsfield had been the one to cause those bruises.

XXXXX

Maura removed her safety glasses and latex gloves setting them aside on a surgical tray. She reached up and wiped the sweat from her forehead. The morgue was hotter than usual she had asked Kent to take a look at the AC when he got the chance. She found herself wising her scrubs weren't as thick as they were. Deciding to ignore her discomfort Maura turned her attention to the victim, Grace Harper.

She wasn't much younger then Maura. Her features were soft free of any kind of long term stress. Maura imagined her as having been a very attractive woman when her face hadn't been covered in bruises. She never liked seeing people on her table. If they were there it meant that someone had taken away their future. Taken away their voice. It was why Maura did what she did, to give victims their voices back. Maura leaned into the autopsy table all of her attention on Grace's face.

"We'll find who did this to you," she said fully aware she would not receive a reply.

Maura hadn't noticed Jane enter the room and wasn't expecting it when someone spoke behind her. "Dr. Isles is right; we will find the person who did this to you." Jane was directing her comment at Maura more than she was Grace.

The medical examiner jumped at the sound of her friend's voice. She turned, nearly knocking her surgical instruments off of their perch. "Jane!"

"Hey easy. I didn't mean to scare you." Maura would have believed her if Jane could have kept herself from chuckling. "You have anything for me? Cause of death? Trace evidence? Killer's DNA? Instant coffee maybe?"

"Cause of death is asphyxiation from strangulation. From the patterns of the bruises around her neck the killer most likely came up behind her and used something to strangle her," she explained while Jane nodded. "I'm having the lab process her belongings for any trace evidence. And as for DNA I found saliva just below her right ear. Kent is running it now."

Jane continued to nod absently as she went over the information in her head. Maura watched her still in awe after all the years they had worked together at her friend's ability to work problems in her mind. She had always found it interesting that Jane would fiddle with her hands perhaps subconsciously when she way focused.

"That's great Maura." Her usual excitement was absent as she moved to stand by Grace's head. "What can you tell me about these bruises?"

"Based on the coloration they happened an hour maybe two before she was killed. I'm placing time of death around 3AM."

"So she was roughed up and then two hours later someone strangled her," Jane noted. "What did the killer use to strangle her?"

"During my preliminary exam I didn't find any fibers that would suggest something like a robe or strap. The width of the strangulation marks is too wide to be a cord and there is no tearing to suggest a wire," Maura paused choosing her words carefully. "It's more consistent with someone coming up behind her and wrapping their arm around her neck. Applying pressure and cutting off her air supply."

Jane started nodding again. Grace's fiancé had said that she had been taking a self-defense course. She would have learned how to escape a chokehold at some point. Leading Jane to assume whoever did strangle Grace was extremely strong and most likely bigger than her as well.

"So the only DNA you found was saliva just below her ear?" Jane asked.

"Yes. She may have fought her attacker but it doesn't appear she scratched them or bit them."

"It's kinda a strange place for saliva to be wouldn't you say?"

"Not necessarily. If whoever left the DNA was in a romantic relationship with the victim then-"

Jane held up her hand and shook her head effectively quieting Maura. "I don't need to know the details."

"You did ask Jane. Surely you have your own spots-"

"Stop. Nope not going there with you. Come find me when you have anything for me. I've got a lead to follow."

"It's natural Jane," Maura called after her.

"I'm not listening Maura," Jane called back.

Maura smiled to herself. Sometimes she wondered how the two of them had ever become friends. It never took her long to find an answer. It never changed. Their personalities complemented each other. Where Maura calculated all of her options and worked with facts she had right in front of her Jane acted on her gut and took only the options right in front of her with the one that fit best in the moment. Maura loved that about her friend. She supposed it was why Jane was such a great detective.

XXXXX

Once in the squad room Jane found that Korsak was with Nina Holiday, the newest addition to their unit, in BRIC. Upon entering the room with the two other officers she learned that Nina had pulled all of the information she could on Alexis Eldsfield. The photo they had of her showed a much different person then the one Jane had seen in the group photo with Cody and Grace. The woman looked harder like someone who was too serious about everything. Jane hoped she never had to see what Alexis was capable of in a confrontation.

"I got the information you wanted on Alexis Eldsfield," Nina reported even though Jane could clearly see that. "College graduate moved here from New York not long after she graduated took up a job as a Site Manager for a construction company."

"Any priors?" Jane asked leaning in to get a closer look at Nina's computer screen.

"Her record is clean," Nina responded pulling another page up onto the screen. "However, she has a restraining order against someone named Fredric Smith."

"Why did she file the restraining order?" Korsak asked.

Nina pulled up the case file, having thought ahead knowing the detective would want to know everything. "He was convicted of assault sentenced to a year in prison he was released just before Eldsfield moved to Boston."

"Anything else of use?"

"Not that I can get you without a warrant Jane," Nina sighed. "Are we taking a special interest in her?"

Jane nodded her eyes never leaving the computer screen. "Right now she's the last person to have seen Grace Harper alive. I just want to cover all of the bases before we go talk to her."

"I've never know you to take so much notice this early in a case to a person of interest Jane," Nina remarked.

"Call it a gut feeling on this one," Jane offered Nina a small shrug. Turning to Korsak she offered up a devious grin. "How about you and I go and talk to Ms. Eldsfield at her job site? What do you say partner?"

"Gladly," Korsak nodded.

Jane placed a hand on Nina's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Good work. Forward me the address of where she's working now." Nina nodded as her fingers moved quickly over the keyboard pulling up the information Jane requested.

The detectives were already gone when Nina pulled up the correct location of Alexis Eldsfield's current job. Just as quickly as she had pulled up the information Nina had punched it into her phone and sent it to Jane and Korsak. She almost wished she had gone with them she enjoyed going into the field every now and then with Jane or Korsak. Sighing she turned back to the computer in front of her, not having anything particular to work on.

XXXXX

Jane regretted letting Korsak drive. They had worked together for years and they both knew the Boston area well, especially since Jane had grown up there, but Korsak had managed to get them stuck in traffic.

"I told you we should have turned two lights ago," Jane chided.

"You didn't tell me to turn until _after_ I passed the turn," Korsak reminded her.

"Then make the next left if you want to get there before they go home for the rest of the day," Jane retorted her annoyance at the slow moving traffic painfully obvious. "Next time I'm driving."

"I offered to let you drive but you said no," Korsak's voice remained even. He knew how impatient Jane could get and he knew how to deal with it.

Jane opened her mouth to argue but quickly decided against it as Korsak turned the car moving them out of traffic. Jane had noticed it was early for rush hour but they were in Boston it would be ten times worse later. She just hoped they could catch Alexis Eldsfield at work and not have to track her down to her home. At least not until they got any physical evidence that pointed them to a true suspect.

She glanced up from staring at her hands and noticed the construction site that they were coming up on. She straightened her back and leaned forward to get a better look out the front window. She grinned when she saw men moving around in orange safety vests with hard hats perched on their heads. If they were lucky the woman, they were looking for would still be on site.

"Let's go see if we can find Ms. Alexis Eldsfield," Jane said pushing her door open before Korsak had even gotten a chance to put the car in park.

"Let's hope she's as forthcoming with her information as the fiancé," Korsak added as he joined Jane at the front of the car.

Jane let Korsak lead the way. There wasn't an office of any sort to speak of that they could see so Korsak tried to flag down a worker. While he was busy doing that Jane felt her hip vibrate. Reaching down she pulled her phone from its place on her hip and checked the caller ID. The screen showed a picture Jane had taken of Maura at a less then flattering moment involving a beer and fries. She answered.

"Rizzoli."

"Why are you always so formal when you know it's me Jane?"

"I'm sorry who is this?" Jane said teasingly her lips pulling up in a grin.

"Very funny Jane." Jane could tell by the inflection of Maura's voice that she didn't exactly find it funny at all. "I called to tell you the DNA results came back from the saliva I found on Grace Harper's jaw."

"That was quick," Jane mused. "Who's is it?"

"No hits. I'm having Kent run it through other databases such as the military but so far nothing. Whoever left the DNA isn't in the system."

"Great. Well maybe we'll have something after we talk to Grace's friend Alexis Eldsfield. Hell maybe I can get you a swab from her you can run against the DNA?"

"Just don't come back asking me to swab your neck."

"One time Maura, that happened one time and we caught the killer."

"Uh-huh."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you enjoyed going undercover and getting attention from lesbians."

"I think you're confusing yourself with me Ms. Let Me Just Thrust My Boobs in Your Face."

"I didn't thrust my breasts in your face Jane. You needed me there to test DNA."

"I didn't ask you to go undercover as a waitress in a gay bar."

"Is there a reason we're arguing about this almost three years after it happened?"

"Yes you brought it up and now I need to go. Call if you have something that will help us with the case we're working now."

"Bye Jane."

"Bye Maura." Jane hung up her phone and headed over towards Korsak who was now standing next to a large man in a neon green safety vest. "That was Maura there were no matches on the DNA she found." She informed Korsak before glancing at the man next to him. He looked small, like he didn't belong working in construction. He had trouble maintaining eye contact with either of the detectives.

Finally, after shifting on his feet a couple more times he looked up at Jane, still not meeting her eye. "You'll have to wear a helmet. Alex is on the other side of the site taking care of some logistic stuff."

XXXXX

A few minutes later and the young construction worker was leading Korsak and Jane through the worksite. Jane couldn't help but mess with the hard hat sitting on her head. It was hot and felt like the white plastic was starting to bubble. They had just passed by some heavy machinery when the man who had been leading them stopped and pointed over to a group of four people.

"Alex is the tall one in the blue shirt."

And then he was gone. The two detectives shot a look at each other both shrugging. Apparently the young worker didn't want to be away from his job for too long. Jane couldn't exactly blame him. Even from where she stood the woman who stood talking to three large men appeared to be comfortable and in charge of the people around her. Her presence almost demanding respect from her peers.

Korsak nudged Jane's arm with his elbow bringing her attention to him. "I'll let you take the lead on this one." Jane rolled her eyes at her partner.

"What's wrong Vince? You have a problem with women of authority?" Jane smirked walking ahead of Korsak.

"Do you think I'd still be working with you if I did?" Korsak asked.

"Fair enough."

As the two came up on the group the three men around Alex spread out moving to her sides giving the detectives some room. They almost reminded Jane of bodyguards which was ridiculous but still the first thing that came to mind. Jane felt eyes on her and her partner and pulled back her blazer, flashing her badge.

"I'm Detective Rizzoli and this is my partner Detective Korsak we're Boston Homicide. Could we talk to you Ms. Eldsfield?"

Jane watched as Alex turned to the three men and dismissed herself. "This way Detectives it's quieter and more private." They allowed Alex to lead them away from the middle of the construction site until the noise rising behind them was nothing more than background noise. Alex removed her helmet before motioning for the detectives to do the same.

For the first time Jane got a really good look at the woman they were dealing with. She was tall and lean much like Jane but slightly more muscularly toned then the detective. Her hair was dark, almost black, pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes were a deep slate gray that held Jane's gaze. Alex smiled and for the third time that day Jane saw someone completely different then in her DMV photo and the one Cody Stanton had the three of them.

"What can I help you with detectives?" Alex asked her smile never wavering.

"Ms. Eldsfield-"

Alex cut Jane off by raising her hand "It's Alexis or Alex. At least to everyone around here." Jane nodded.

"Okay. Alex we were hoping to ask you some questions about your whereabouts last night," Jane finished.

"My…my whereabouts? Am I…" The smile on Alex's face faded. "What is this about Detectives?"

"Grace Harper was found dead this morning. She had been strangled outside of a bar her fiancé said you went out with her last night." Jane informed her being careful to watch Alex's body language.

Jane watched Alex clench and unclench her hands as she processed what she'd been told. "Gracie is dead?" The words left her mouth barely above a whisper but Jane heard them. She heard the anger behind them. Suddenly Jane saw the same Alex as her DMV photo, angry, confrontational, cold. Suddenly Jane had Alex up in her face thrusting a finger into her chest. "You think I had something to do with it?!"

Jane held up her hands and took a step away from the suddenly enraged woman. Korsak already had his hand on the butt of his gun but Jane didn't think he would need it. "Easy we just want to talk."

It took a minute but Alex finally did drop her hand and let the anger leave her body. Alex looked back up meeting Jane's eye directly.

"Alright Detective what do you want to know."

 **Authors Note: 72 Hours is in a Hiatus currently but I will finish it after this one or possibly a little after that because I don't know yet.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 yay! Well I'm pretty proud of myself for remembering to work on this chapter after this weekend. My family was down for the game so I was taking a break. Anyway hopefully I'll be just as fast with the next chapter. This one is kind of slow going but things will pick up in chapter 3. So thank you for reading, please let me know what you think and, as always, enjoy.**

Chapter 2

Alexis had let herself slump against the fence as she prepared to answer the detective's questions. Jane could clearly see the distress on the woman's face but she couldn't figure out what had caused it. Jane shifted her weight from her left foot to her right crossing her arms in the process. She felt the need to make herself look more intimidating for some reason that was completely beyond her at the moment.

"Alexis can you run us through what went on last night?" Jane asked.

Alex glanced up at Jane but refused to meet her eye. With a heavy sigh Alex ran a hand over her hair to smooth it down before nodding. "Gracie and I met up around eight. Cody had their car so we took mine instead. We headed to some bar not far from her house grabbed a few drinks then moved on." Alex paused trying to recall more of the past night. "We hit up a couple more bars and a club or two. I don't remember the names of any of them… I think we ended up at a bar called the 21st Amendment or something around midnight."

"Alright so you two went bar hopping how late did you stay out?" Jane pushed.

"Not much longer," Alex informed her. "Around twelve fifteen maybe my neighbor called. My dog, Blue, had gotten out of the apartment again and was barking up a storm. He's harmless just gets anxious when he's alone. I guess I didn't lock the deadbolt when I left. He can open the door damn dog…"

"So after the phone call you left the bar?" Jane continued trying to get Alex back on track.

"I told Gracie I had to go and offered to take her home but she wanted to stay out awhile longer." Alex let out a half-hearted laugh as she leaned her head back against the fence. "Gracie can take care of herself so I thought she'd be alright by herself. We were in a part of town we knew well. I told her to call me if she needed a ride home and then I left… I can see that leaving her was a mistake…

"Cody is always telling me that Gracie isn't as capable of taking care of herself as I like to think she is. I never listened. Gracie had no trouble kicking my ass… Christ Cody isn't going to forgive me for leaving Gracie by herself…"

Jane glanced over at Korsak hoping he would have something to interject into the conversation. Instead her partner only shrugged. Jane was sure that Korsak had noticed that Alex had trouble focusing on one thing at a time. As glad as Jane was to start filling in the events of the night before leading to the murder of Grace Harper she wished Alex would keep on track.

"Is there anyone who collaborate this?" Jane finally asked.

"Yeah I got back around one. The neighbor that called me probably saw me come back. That or the old lady who lives directly next to me. There's nothing she doesn't hear. Including anytime I bring home company… She's a sweet lady but you know she's lonely likes to know everything going on," Alex shrugged. "I stayed in after I got Blue back inside. Gracie never called so I figured she got home okay… Fuck… I should have locked the deadbolt."

"We appreciate you taking the time to talk with us Alex," Korsak said sensing there wasn't much more they could get out of the woman. He extended his hand which she promptly took shaking it.

Jane could see how tightly Alex gripped Korsak's hand before she released it. Alex then turned to Jane her hand extended expecting Jane to follow the same action as her partner. Instead Jane held out her card for Alex to take. Calloused fingers plucked the card from between Jane's slender fingers.

"We'll be in contact if we need anything else from you," Jane explained. "If you remember anything that may be of use just give one of us a call."

This time Alex didn't try to offer Jane a hand shake. She tucked the card into a breast pocked before returning her helmet to its place. She took a second to adjust the way it sat on her head before nodded at Jane. Her lips curled up in a smiled when her gray eyes met the dark brown eyes of the detective.

"I'll do whatever I can to help," she admitted moving away from the fence. "I cared a lot about Gracie. She deserves justice. Now uh if you'll excuse me I need to make sure none of my guys has screwed up in the past twenty minutes."

Jane was about to stop Alex when the woman brushed pass her. The momentary contact sent a light jolt through Jane's person. She turned to grab Alex's elbow to prevent her from leaving but Alex was already being joined by the same construction workers from earlier. Jane turned back to Korsak. His eyebrow arched in question.

"What was that?"

"Another gut feeling."

"What was it this time?"

"Not sure." Jane noticed Korsak messaging his hand. "She hurt your hand Korsak? Or are you just getting that old?"

Korsak chuckled but ignored his partners question. "What do you want to check out first her alibi or the bar where she left our victim alone?"

Jane glanced at her watch. It was nearly 5:00pm meaning traffic would be a bitch no matter what she decided they do. What she really wanted was something to eat since she hadn't had anything since breakfast.

"Let's head to the bar," she finally decided. "Hopefully whoever was bartending last night will be there again."

Korsak handed the car keys over to Jane and let her lead the way back to their vehicle.

"Besides if the bartender doesn't have anything to offer at least I can get some wings. I'm starving."

Korsak pulled the car door open, laughing as he did. He was just as hungry as Jane was. It wouldn't hurt if they ate while they worked.

XXXXX

The 21st Amendment wasn't as busy as Jane had thought it would be at that point in the evening. Even on a Monday night most Bostonians could be found cramped into some bar somewhere in the city. But not here, not tonight and for that Jane was glad. They small trickle of patrons in and out of the bar meant it would be easier to talk to the bartender without much interruption. Luck had even been on their side when it came to the bartender who happened to have been working the night before.

He greeted the two detectives with a warm smile as they took up two spots at the bar. When he came over to offer them a drink Jane held up her badge and gave a smile of his own.

"I take it you're not here for a social outing then," he commented dropping his hands to the bar.

"Unfortunately not this time," Jane admitted with a sigh.

"Alright. So what interest do the police have in this wonderful establishment?" he asked flashing a smile in Jane's direction.

"We're here investigating a murder that occurred last night," Korsak replied deciding to join the conversation. He produced a photo of Grace Harper from his blazer and handed it to the bartender. "We were hoping you saw this woman, Grace Harper, last night. She would have been here around midnight."

The bartender took the photo from Korsak's hand. He studied it for a moment before shaking his head and handing it back.

"Yeah I remember her," he confirmed. "Somebody killed this poor girl? Such a shame."

"What can you tell us about last night?" Jane probed. "Was she with anybody? Was anyone causing her any trouble?"

"The bar was pretty busy last night, which isn't unusual but it doesn't happen often on Sunday's," he recalled. "She came in around eleven thirty. She had her friend with her. The friend seemed pretty buzzed when they came in. bar hopping I guess."

"Can you describe the friend Miss. Harper was with?" Korsak asked.

"Tall, looked a lot like you Detective," he glanced at Jane. "But with more muscle on her. She had blackish hair and her eyes… I've never seen eyes like that."

He reached up to rub the back of his neck smiling sheepishly. "She came up to order a round for her and… Grace was it? I uh… I flirted with her but she just ignored it. They both kept to themselves except when they ran out of beer."

"How late were they here?" Jane jumped in. Her mind momentarily stuck on the fact that Alexis had turned down the bartender's advances. He was attractive and obviously trying to flirt with Jane while answering questions.

"They were here about an hour, gone through four rounds I think, when the friend got a phone call and stepped out. She was gone for a minute maybe before she came back in and said something the Grace girl," the bartender ran his hand through his hair. "They talked for a minute and then the friend left."

"Miss Harper was here alone then?"

"For a little, she left about one when things started to really slow down here."

"And she left alone?"

"Far as I could tell."

"We appreciate the help," Korsak told the bartender.

"Anything to help Boston's finest," he smiled and winked at Jane. "I better get back to work. Let me know if you need something."

Korsak turned to face Jane after the bartender had moved away. A smirk played across his face.

Jane raised her eyebrow at him. "What?"

"He likes you."

"I think he likes any woman with a pulse Vince."

Korsak chuckled. The conversation between them died down when a waiter finally brought out the wings they had ordered. It wasn't often that the two of them got to take time to sit down and eat together when they were working. Whenever they were off duty they were at the Robber but it was always in the company of their other friends. They had been partners for years and Jane missed having downtime with him. She hated that he was on his way to retirement. She knew he wouldn't leave so soon after losing Frost but he would retire eventually.

"Hands off my chicken Korsak." Jane swatted his hand away when he reached for a wing.

"I just wanted the celery."

"Bullshit. That hand gets any closer you'll lose a finger."

Korsak held his hands up and turned back to his own wings. He knew full well Jane would remove a finger if he tried to steal her food. Next to him Jane took a bite of a wing and chuckled. Feeling a little pity for her partner she tossed her piece of celery into his basket. She nearly choked on the food in her mouth when a small amount of BBQ sauced into his face and on his shirt.

"At least we're done for the day."

"You got BBQ sauce on my tie."

"I think it's an improvement," Jane snickered as she picked up another wing.

Next to her Korsak rolled his eyes.

XXXXX

Alexis Eldsfield laid stretched out on her couch in gym shorts and a worn-out tee. On the floor next to the couch her pitbull, Blue, was curled up keeping his master company. She was tired. After having gone out the night before and staying up well past 2AM only to drag herself to work at 8AM had taken a toll on her. Learning that Grace had been murdered not long after she had left her alone… Alex wiped the tears from her eyes. She felt responsible for what had happened. So much so she couldn't bring herself to call Cody.

She could tell that the detectives suspected her of having a part in Grace's murder. She really couldn't blame them. Especially after she had gone off on Detective Rizzoli.

Sighing she rolled to her side so she could reach Blue. He lifted his head at her touch. He looked up at Alex happily excepting her pats. She smiled at him leaning farther of the couch to plant a kiss on the top of his head. Blue returned the favor by licking her face.

"Alright, alright you big goof I love you too," Alex chuckled pushing Blue away from her.

A knock at the door caused Blue to let out a low woof and start towards the door. Alex smiled knowing exactly who was on the other side. She got up from the couch and moved towards the door. She tugged on Blue's collar giving him a silent command to go lay down. "It's only Marian, bub."

Blue seemed to recognize the name that came from Alex's mouth because he turned his attention from the door to his dog bed. Once Alex was sure he wouldn't get back up she pulled the door open and was greeted by a gorgeous brunette.

The brunette, Alex knew as Marian, wrapped her arms seductively around Alex's neck, pulling her into a long heated kiss. Alex's arms wrapped around Marian's slender waist pulling her as close as possible. When they pulled apart Alex had completely forgotten about the events of that day.

"Hey baby I take it you missed me?" Marian kissed down Alex's neck.

"I did," Alex groaned, painfully aware that her neighbors could come out to see her standing in the doorway with a woman working her hand under her shirt. "I just hope you weren't expecting a fancy dinner."

Marian looked up meeting Alex's eye before she pulled away. She took ahold of the collar of Alex's shirt and pulled her inside, shutting the door behind them.

"I figured you had something else in mind," Marian whispered before nipping Alex's earlobe causing moan to escape her lover's mouth. "So Alex tell me what you want to do to me tonight?"

Alex moved quickly as she pinned Marian to the wall, pressing their bodies closely together. She bit down on Marian's neck, not hard enough to hurt her but enough that it would leave a mark. Marian wrapped her legs around Alex's waist. Finally, Alex decided to answer her lover's question. "Whatever you want me too darling."

Marian snaked a hand between them. She continued down until her fingers came to the elastic of Alex's shorts. Alex felt hot breath against her ear as Marian leaned closer. "Do you tell that to all the women you bring home?" Alex couldn't help but chuckle. Marian knew she wasn't the only one Alex was sleeping with and she really didn't care. Alex had always treated her different than the others and she made sure Marian knew that.

"Only you." Alex stepped away from the wall, taking all of Marian's weight. "And that really hot pizza girl." She teased earning a bite from Marian.

The bedroom wasn't far away. It was only a minute before the door shut behind the two women.

Blue, who had fallen asleep in his bed, lifted his head lazily at the noise but didn't bother rising. He understood the door being shut meant his owner wanted to be bothered. He dropped his head again yawning loudly. After a moment the dog was asleep again.

XXXXX

Maura hadn't been expecting to see Jane that day. The detective had been busy doing her usual gumshoeing. Was that the word? Maura could only remember the look she had earned from Jane the last time she had used it. All their years working together and Maura was always struck with awe when it came to her friend. They knew everything about each other. At least it felt that way. Then again there were times that they were completely surprised to learn that there were still things neither had mentioned. Maura smiled as she placed the kettle on the stove. Perhaps Jane would surprise her again.

Almost as if expected Maura's front door opened and the tall brunette walked in carrying a Styrofoam box. Jane didn't wait for a further invitation before making her way over to the kitchen island that Maura stood beside. The smell of BBQ hit Maura suddenly. She and Korsak must had stopped to eat after talking to Alexis Eldsfield.

"I wasn't expecting you to come by tonight Jane," Maura said wanting to get rid of the silence in the home.

The comment earned her a chuckle from Jane who was now perched on a barstool. "Let me as you this," she leaned forward resting her elbows on the counter. "When, in all the years we've known each other, have I not come by after work?"

Jane was right. There really _wasn't_ a night she hadn't made a stop at Maura's even if it was just to steal food. Normally Maura wouldn't try to argue with Jane but tonight she couldn't help herself.

"There was last Tuesday and that night during the Evans case a couple months ago," she recalled.

"Okay that night doesn't count I was in the hospital," Jane countered.

"Should I remind you _why_ you were in the hospital Jane?" Maura asked coming around to it next to the now flustered Jane.

"Please don't," Jane groaned. The incident that had landed her in the hospital had not been one of her finer moments. "Can we just talk about the case? Did your techs find anything?"

"There was some trace on her clothes, dirt under her fingernails but nothing we were able to run tonight," Maura felt like indulging Jane for the moment. "Kent and I will get on it tomorrow. But honestly we have nothing as of now. You'll have to get us a DNA sample to run against the one I found on Grace Harper's neck."

"Yeah tomorrow Korsak and I are headed over to Eldsfield's place of residence and talk to her neighbors. They'll either give her an alibi or make use look at her even harder," Jane shrugged. "Maybe she'll be forthcoming and give us some DNA."

"I thought you were going to get that today," Maura pointed out.

"I forgot," Jane said flatly.

"So why are you here?" Maura asked deciding to change the subject.

"Your place was closer than mine. You don't mind do you? I'd be here first thing in the morning anyway."

Maura shook her head as she rose to remove the screaming kettle from the stove top. She didn't mind Jane staying at all. She had come to expect it from the detective. Jane kept clothes at her place for those nights she just couldn't make it home. Maura enjoyed the company. Even though Angela Rizzoli resided in her guest home and was constantly spending time with Maura sometimes the doctor couldn't ignore the void she felt.

It was something she never talked about. She didn't feel the need too. Her loneliness stemmed from a longtime inability to speak to other people without making a fool of herself. Jane had changed that. Maura was grateful for that. She cherished the time she spent with Jane. She was sure Jane had no idea how important she truly was to her and she was okay with that.

"Of course you can stay. You know my home is your home."

"I wouldn't say that around my mother," Jane laughed.

"I'm not worried about Angela taking over my home. Just your instant coffee." Maura couldn't help but smile at her friend. "Unless you have another run-in with a streetlamp."

Jane groaned as she dropped her head to the counter. People still picked on her about that chase that had landed her in the hospital. She hadn't seen the streetlamp until it had been too late. Hell even the bastard she had been chasing, on foot mind you, started laughing. It was the only reason they caught the guy. The months of teasing had not been worth bagging the suspect. Neither had the concussion she had sustained for that matter.

"You're a terrible friend," Jane muttered.

"And yet here you are," Maura chuckled.

"I don't think I can forgive you."

"Don't be ridiculous Jane."

Jane rose from the counter throwing her arm over her eyes dramatically. "You've wounded my pride." She moved over to the couch and, knowing Maura absolutely hated it, collapsed over the arm of the seat with a loud sigh.

"You're going to ruin my couch if you keep doing that."

"It amazes me that this couch is more important than our friendship."

Maura came to join her friend in the living room holding a cup of tea in her hand. "Stop pouting Jane you know I didn't mean anything by it."

Jane crossed her arms over her chest, "I don't believe you."

Maura rolled her eyes, something she rarely did, at the detective stretched out on her couch. She knew Jane was messing with her but after years of playing the same game Maura decided to mess back.

"If that's what you want." Maura turned away from the brunette and began to move towards her room. She had a story that she knew Jane would want to hear. She wasn't about to lose this round. "I'll tell you about the time I rode nude on a horse some other time."

That did it. Jane sat up, rather unsuccessfully because of the way her legs hung off the couch, to look at Maura. The story really wasn't that interesting. Maura had done it as a protest in college. But the words had their intended effect. Jane was no longer focused on messing with Maura and she was off the couch.

"You did what?"

Maura didn't answer.

"Maura."

Maura smiled to herself. Jane never believed she had done some very out of character things in the past. It was always interesting to see how the detective would react.

"Maura!"

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight Jane."

"You're playing dirty."

"I have no idea what you mean." Maura smiled at Jane, knowing full well what she was doing.

"You really need to stop spending time with Kent."

"I learned it from you. Now goodnight Jane."

Jane sighed knowing she'd lost this round against Maura. "Night Maura. Cheater."

Maura could only chuckle at her friend as she sauntered off into the guestroom. She had never had a friendship like she had with Jane before. She enjoyed being close to someone she could tell everything too and be comfortable enough to joke with and be herself around.

She took another sip of tea and made her way into her own room where she changed out of her clothes and into something more comfortable. Setting her cup on the dresser she crawled into her oversized bed. It wasn't long before she began to drift off to the sound on Jane moving around across the hall…

 **Quick little note, I am very hesitant to develop characters who aren't directly from the series to much as I feel it takes away from the people the story is really about. I am making an exception with this story for reasons you'll see as the story continues. Thank you all so much. Have a great day.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delay in update I had no time over break and when I got back to school I left my computer cord at home and had to order a new one so it set me back a couple days. But here it is chapter 3. I know its long but I figured you all wouldn't mind. Chapter 4 should be up in the next couple weeks. I have a large report to write so I need to focus on that first but don't fret I will not be gone for long! Things will pick up soon in this story!**

 **Thank you for being so patient and sticking with me, it means a lot. So thank you for reading, please please please review for me so I know what you guys think. And, as always, please enjoy.**

Chapter 3

All the muscles in her body screamed in protest as she tried to sit up. Her alarm continued to scream in her ear while she stretched. A yawn escaped her lips as she brought a hand down on the clock, effectively silencing it. She turned, letting her legs hang from the side of the bed, allowing her body to adjust to the cold. Marian hadn't stayed the night. She normally didn't. Alex didn't mind it. Not having another person with her in the morning allowed for her to go through her morning routine without interruption. Not that she was against the kind of interruption she normally received from her partners.

Blue greeted her with his normal enthusiasm when she shuffled into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Alex smiled at Blue as he approached her. Thirty-six years old and the relationship she had with her dog was the longest of all of her relationships. Not including her friendship with Grace and Cody.

"Don't give me that look your breakfast is over there."

Thirty minutes later Alex had showered, eaten, gotten dressed and taken Blue out for his morning walk. She wasn't needed on site today so she was spending it at the gym. Amateur Night was coming up and she figured she would enter for once. She needed something to get her mind off of Gracie's murder.

She slung the strap of her bag over her shoulder, wincing when it put pressure on a bruise. She was covered in them. A few of them hurt but she had enjoyed receiving them last night. Marian was a biter. Alex scratched Blue's ear one last time before she exited the apartment. This time she made sure to lock the deadbolt.

She hadn't made it very far when her elderly neighbor opened her door and stopped Alex. She was a kind old woman and Alex enjoyed talking with her most of the time. The elderly woman loved to gossip. Which was fine. Until it involved the women Alex brought home on a semi-regular basis. Her partners weren't always the quietest in bed.

"Morning Nancy," Alex greeted the woman with a smile. "I hope my friend and I didn't bother you last night."

"Not at all dear," Nancy returned Alex's smile. "I just wanted to check and make sure you were alright. I saw on the news your friend Grace was murdered. Such a terrible thing to happen to such a nice girl."

Alex's smile faltered momentarily. She was touched the older woman was concerned about how she was handling the death but she also felt a pang of guilt. She wasn't about to let Nancy know she felt guilty. "I'm doing alright. Thank you for asking I appreciate it." When Nancy smiled again Alex knew it was fine to end the short conversation. "I need to get moving Nancy. You have a nice day."

"You too Alexis."

Out of all her neighbors Nancy was the only person who used her full first name. it always sounded strange to hear it from the woman but it was how things were. Sighing to herself she continued down the hall to the stairs hoping a day in the ring would help her get her mind off things.

XXXXX

Jane entered the kitchen still half asleep. The guest bed was a thousand times better than her own bed but it had left her stiff and sore. When she was finally able to open her eyes wide enough she saw Maura with a judgmental look on her face. Jane ignored her for the moment as she went to pour herself a cup of coffee. If she was going to function at all she needed caffeine. When she had the steaming cup of black liquid in her possession she turned her attention to Maura.

"What's with the look?" she asked, taking a cautious sip of her coffee.

"You look horrible," Maura said bluntly.

Jane looked down at herself. Maura wasn't exactly wrong. Her slacks were wrinkled, her blazer had a small stain on it and her shirt was half tucked in. At the time of getting dressed Jane had been too tired to have cared. It didn't mean that Maura had to be so blunt about it. Jane wanted to return to comment but, like every morning, Maura looked nearly flawless. The designer dress was in pristine condition, her heels complimented the dress and as a whole Maura looked like she was due to walk down a runway in Paris.

"Yeah well…" she paused unable to think of any good comebacks. "Not everyone can be as perky as you at eight in the morning."

"Perky? Really Jane?" Maura couldn't help but chuckle. "I wouldn't exactly describe myself as 'perky'"

"Bouncy?" Jane offered.

"Try again."

"Sprightly?"

"Do you even know what that word means?"

"Same thing as 'perky' and 'bouncy'" Jane made use of air quotes earning her a sigh from Maura. "Fine. Energetic."

"I'd hardly call it that," Maura said making her way over to Jane. "I simply take the time to make myself look presentable. I care about my appearance."

Maura tugged at Jane's shirt. The part of the shirt that had remained tucked in came loose. Maura allowed the free shirt to fall from her hands. She smiled at Jane in triumph. Jane rolled her eyes and gently pushed Maura away with an index finger to her shoulder. Sometimes Maura could be just as maddening as her mother.

"Alright cut it out we're going to be late," Jane started nudging Maura towards the door. "Nina has security footage from the 21st Amendment and the street where Grace Harper was found." Maura began to protest but Jane pushed her towards the door. "Now Maura. We've got a lot to do today and you need to get back to the morgue and find me something I can use."

"That isn't how things work Jane."

"You'll figure it out. I'm sure there is something you missed."

Jane was unable to dodge Maura when she slapped the detective across the chest. "Ow hey I was kidding."

Maura sauntered away from her clearly not listening to what the detective was saying to her. "Maura. Ugh come one Maura I was kidding." Jane moved to catch up with Maura. "Will you at least give me the keys?"

"Oh no I'm driving and that's final," Maura said firmly. "Now get in the car or we _will_ be late."

Jane knew Maura wasn't truly mad at her. After years of being around the detective some of her personality must have rubbed off on Maura. Sometimes Jane hated that. Maura was no longer that awkward doctor with no people skills. She was now the awkward doctor with average people skills and a better understanding of joking or messing around. Grudgingly Jane climbed into the passenger seat. When Maura got into the driver's seat Jane caught her grinning.

"You're unbelievable Dr. Isles."

Maura only shrugged her grin widening at her friend.

XXXXX

"Eldsfield get your ass in the ring!" Bill was a big man. He wasn't fit by any means. What had once been a toned torso had become a beer belly. Muscular arms had turned into flab after being ignored for so long. But Bill was a good man and the owner of the gym Alex frequented.

"Take it easy big man I had to wrap up," Alex bent down to slid through the ropes of the ring that Bill help up for her. "You get me in for the next Amateur Night?"

"First match of the night kid."

"Thanks Bill."

"Don't mention it. You're my best fighter and I want people to know it."

"You know that isn't why I'm fighting."

"I know kid." Bill smiled his fatherly smile he always saved for his favorite regulars. "Speaking of the what's with the bruises? Rough night?"

"You could say that." Alex smirked as she pulled on her face guard. "You remember Marian right? She uh likes to bite. If I'm going to put it gently."

"That's putting it gently?" Bill asked acting as if he didn't want to hear the details but in truth he wanted them. Alex was one of the guys when it came to her place at the gym.

"Don't tell me you've never been with a woman who likes to get a little rough Billy."

"Not in my forty years." Bill bellowed. "Alright Finny get your skinny ass in here give the Butcher here a challenge."

"Gladly." Fin said hopping into the ring.

"Butcher?" Alex turned towards Bill as he moved away.

"Congrats kid it's your official boxing moniker."

Alex rolled her eyes and turned back to Fin who was way more excited about the fight then he should be. She slipped her mouth guard in using her tongue to adjust it. "Butcher? Really Bill?" Alex moved up to tap gloves with Fin before getting the go ahead from Bill. Alex made sure she landed the first hit of the match.

XXXXX

Nina paused the security video from 21st Amendment. "There. The victim and Eldsfield are in the corner. This is around the time the bartender said Eldsfield stepped out." She played the video from there. Together Korsak, Jane and Nina watched the events play out. Sure enough at 12:13AM Alexis Eldsfield excused herself from the table holding her phone in her hand. Nina changed to another camera angle so they could watch Alexis leave the bar.

Unfortunately, there were no camera's outside the bar but luckily Alexis stay just barely inside the frame of the camera. The pixilated version of Alexis only stayed outside less than a minute when she came back in. Nina followed her back to her booth with Grace Harper. They watched the two exchange a couple of words, hug, share a few more words before Alexis left again.

"Exactly as both Eldsfield and the bartender said," Korsak said. "She left around 12:15 without Ms. Harper."

"Was there anything else?" Jane asked.

"Grace stayed long enough to finish her drink and then she left. No one seemed to pay any attention to her." Nina let the video play at 4x the speed showing the detectives what she had just told them.

Jane ran her hands through her hair. She was frustrated. They had no idea where Grace Harper had gone between her time at the 21st Amendment to when she was murdered. The security tapes from the bar told them what they already knew. They needed something to point them in some direction. Otherwise they were just going to go after Alexis Eldsfield and go after her hard. It wasn't jumping the gun. What they lacked in physical evidence they had in circumstantial evidence. They couldn't make a case out of it but they may be able to get a confession with enough of it.

"What about the video from the street Grace was found on?" Jane asked.

"Glad you asked." Nina smiled up at the detective. She clicked on another video file changing the image on the computer from the bar to the street. "I went through a lot of video from but we lucked out. Your killer didn't know they were being filmed." She fast-forwarded the video until Grace struggling to get free from a hooded figure came into frame. She slowed it back down to regular speed and let the detectives look for themselves.

"Holy shit." Jane couldn't believe it. Even though the killers face was hidden the video gave them something to work with. "You couldn't start with this?"

"You wanted to start at the beginning."

Jane and Korsak continued to watch as the killer wrapped their arm around Grace's neck and strangle her. It lasted for what seemed like forever. Finally, Grace's body went limp and the killer let her drop to the ground. Nina stopped the video just as the killer stood up straight. Jane read the time stamp; 3:18:25AM.

"Now if only the killer had been dumb enough to look up." Korsak mumbled.

"It would be helpful." Jane agreed.

"Hey just because we can't get their face doesn't mean this video is completely unhelpful," Nina said.

Jane cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I can run it through a software and get the killer's height. I won't help you ID anyone but it will rule out any suspects that don't fit the body type."

"God Nina you're the best." Jane grinned.

"Next you'll be telling me we can get a fingerprint from a video." Korsak couldn't help but express his disdain for technology.

"Well…"

Korsak stopped Nina before she could continue. "I don't want to know. I can barely understand my phone."

Jane and Nina both laughed. Korsak was almost completely technologically impaired. They poked fun at him a lot but they agreed. Sometimes technology just went too far.

"It will take me some time to run the program," Nina said. "I'll text you when I get something."

"Good." Jane turned to her partner and grinned. "Well partner how about we pay Eldsfield's neighbors a visit?"

"Lets." Korsak grinned back, just glad that they had something. Even if it wouldn't help their case much.

XXXXX

Jane knocked on the door marked 3B. They'd gotten the neighbors names from the super of the building. Jason Barnes lived in 3B and was most likely the person who had called Eldsfield the night of the murder. 3C belonged to an elderly woman by the name of Nancy Olsen. Jane assumed Nancy was the old woman Eldsfield had referred to the other day.

Korsak and Jane both agreed they would start with the least talkative of the two neighbors. It took a minute but finally the door opened and Jason Barnes stepped into the hall. He looked the two over without speaking. Once he was satisfied with whatever he was looking at he sighed scratching his chin.

"Something I can do for you uh…?" he paused searching the two for some kind of ID.

"Detectives," Jane finished for him holding up her badge. "I'm Detective Rizzoli this is my partner Detective Korsak. We were hoping you could answer a few questions about your neighbor, Alexis Eldsfield."

Barnes didn't look surprised that the two detectives were there to talk about his neighbor. He clicked his tongue. "What did she do this time? It that damn dog of hers? I mean look he's a good dog, but he's loud as fuck when he gets out."

Jane glanced at Korsak. Her partner shook his head seeming to be content on staring at his notepad. "We're not here about her dog. We're here because of the murder that took play the other night."

"Murder huh? Heard about that. So what about it?" Jason didn't appear to be too interested in helping the detectives but at least he wasn't slamming the door in their faces.

"You called Alexis that night around midnight when her dog got out did you see her get home?" Jane asked.

"Yeah Blue finally stopped barking around one-ish. Heard her door so figured she got back. I was just glad to have some quiet I work the morning shift you know?" Jason recounted the incident all the while chewing on his thumbnail.

"After that did you hear her leave again?" Jane figured he hadn't with the way was talking. He seemed more concerned with himself than anything else.

Jason scoffed at the question. For half a second his stopped chewing on his nail but he started right up again. "Yeah an hour later. She's never been very quiet."

"And you're sure it was her?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Three of us live on this floor and I'm pretty fucking sure Nancy wasn't going out that late. And I doubt Alex had one of her dates over otherwise I wouldn't have never gotten any sleep."

Jane was start to get the idea that Alex didn't do much to make her neighbors like her. of course Jane could understand why someone wouldn't be neighborly to Jason Barnes. He was dick.

"Thank you Mr. Barnes we appreciate it." Korsak said sensing his partner was about to lose her shit with Jason's nail biting.

"Yeah no problem." Jason couldn't have made his retreat any faster. His door slammed shut in their faces.

Jane took back what she had thought before about him not slamming the door in their faces. She had the urge to strangle him. Jane absolutely hated nail biters, which was hypocritical because she herself chewed on her nails when she was working. But God did every person they talked to have to be such a dick?

"I think I could play it off as justifiable homicide if you have my back." Jane said.

"Maybe save that for later because now its premeditated." Korsak chuckled. "Besides something good came out of that at our expense."

"We found a bigger asshole than Alexis Eldsfield?" Jane asked.

Korsak shook his head. "Barnes just blew her alibi."

A grin crossed Jane's face. "And her apartment is right there, how helpful." Jane led Korsak of too 3A. She banged on the door not bothering to be quiet about it. "Alexis Eldsfield open up we need to talk."

The two waited for a moment but all they heard was Eldsfield's dog pacing by the door growling. Korsak tried the second time. Banging the door just as loud as Jane had he shouted "Eldsfield open up."

"Excuse me if you're looking for Alexis I'm afraid she isn't home."

Together Jane and Korsak turned to see an elderly woman standing in the doorway of 3C. Korsak assumed that the woman was Nancy Olsen. He moved to introduce himself and Jane. Nancy was a very lively woman and she was very eager to help them.

"Do you know where Alex might be Nancy?" Korsak asked.

"I'm fairly certain she was going to spend the day at the gym. She spends most of her days off there. Always comes home sweaty and looking exhausted." Nancy was definitely a talker. "I don't understand why such a beautiful girl feels the need to get herself beaten up for fun."

"You two talk a lot?" Korsak figured Jane would lose her patience if she asked the questions so he let her stand quietly and take notes.

"Whenever I can catch her, she reminds me of my daughter. She is so polite, taking time to talk to a lonely old lady like me."

"How does she get along with your other neighbor?"

"They argue but Jason doesn't get along with anyone. Alex likes to keep to herself."

"Jason said she can be pretty loud."

"That she can. But it isn't that bad, it's only when she has a guest over."

"She have a lot of guests over?"

"Every few days. In fact, she had one over last night. The two were at it for hours." Nancy chuckled. "Even in my prime I wasn't that able."

The detectives suddenly felt uncomfortable. Korsak decided it was time to wrap the conversation up. "We appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. Do you know the name of the gym Alex frequents?"

"Bakers I believe," Nancy replied. "And it was my pleasure. I enjoy the company."

They said their goodbyes then the detectives made their way down the stairs. Jane wanted out of the complex as quickly as possible. Nancy hadn't been terribly bad to talk to but it had wasted a good amount of time. Barnes on the other hand had left Jane in a bad mood. She couldn't wait to get Eldsfield to the station so they could talk. Now that she knew Eldsfield had lied about her alibi she was looking even better for the murder. Jane just needed Nina to text her with the height of the killer she got from video. That would even make Eldsfield their prime suspect or it would rule her out. Either way they were finally getting somewhere.

XXXXX

Maura looked up from the article of clothing she was re-examining. She was vaguely aware of a person standing very closely behind her. If she had chosen to stand straight up she was sure she would have bumped into the person. Sighing she glanced over her shoulder to see who the person invading her personal space was. She wasn't really surprised to see Kent standing there. He was watching her closely.

"Kent we've talked about this," she said. "Or do we need to discuss person space again?"

"Right sorry about that Dr. Isles." His Scottish accent was fairly thick but understandable. He took a step back giving Maura enough room to turn around and straighten her back. "Taking another look at the victims clothing?"

"Yes. I find it odd that there is hardly any trace from the killer on the victim," Maura shook her head.

"I agree. After watching the video of the attack you would think the killer would have left something." When Kent stepped forward this time he came up to Maura's side and made sure to give her some space. "So what are we looking for?"

"Unsure," Maura turned back to the skirt on the table. "Jane is breathing down my neck for me to find some kind of evidence she can use."

"What about the saliva you found?"

"We have nothing to compare it too, when we do it will be extremely useful," Maura reminded him.

Kent was a smart man, a good man, his wide range of experience gave him a different view of the cases he assisted on. Maura was grateful for him. even though he hadn't arrived at the morgue under the greatest of circumstances. After Susie, one of Maura's lab techs, was murdered Kent had ended up being a replacement. He took it all in stride.

"So we're looking for something that leads us to the killer and not something that will nail or clear the bastard after we get them," he thought out loud as he took another look at the skirt. "Do you have the blouse she was wearing?"

Maura moved around the table to the box of evidence containing all of Grace Harper's belongings. She removed the plastic evidence bag from it and handed it to Kent. She wasn't sure what he was hoping to find. The lab techs had gone over everything with a fine toothed comb. Maura doubted they had missed anything. The techs in her morgue were some of the best. Still mistakes did happen. Sometimes evidence was overlooked.

Kent laid the blouse out on the table after pulling on a pair of latex gloves with a snap. He leaned down to examine the article closely. Maura watched him this time, giving him a reasonable amount of space to do his work. She couldn't help but admire him as he focused on his task. He was attractive, built like a man who had spent time in the military, which he had. His short black hair fading into his facial hair.

"Would you look at that." He smiled and looked up at Maura. "Take a look at this Dr. Isles."

"What is it?" Maura asked moving back to stand next to him.

He pointed to a stain on the sleeve of the blouse. It was dark red and nearly undistinguishable from the color pattern of the blouse. "It appears the lab techs missed something. It appears to be blood."

Maura took a closer look. Kent was right it did appear to be blood but she would run a test to make sure that was what it was. She was slightly upset the techs had missed such an important piece of possible evidence, but she couldn't fault them for it. She hadn't seen it either until Kent pointed it out. If you hadn't known what you were looking for you'd definitely glance right over it.

"Take a sample make sure it is blood and then run it," Maura told him.

"Pretty lucky break wouldn't you say?" Kent asked taking a swab of the stain.

"I don't believe in luck, Kent." Maura dismissed his question eyeing the swab as it turned pink. They had blood. Perhaps this time they would get a hit when they ran it.

"I'll go run the sample from CODIS then." Kent raised his eyebrows as he spoke, slightly offended Maura had dismissed him so easily.

When Kent didn't immediately leave Maura sighed again. "Kent you're crowding again."

"Sorry. I don't mean to I promise you."

"Go run the sample," Maura pointed towards the door, not dismissing him outright but urging him to move. "And if you get the chance will you take a look at the AC?"

"I'll do it while the computer does its work."

"Thank you Kent."

"Happy to do it."

When Kent was gone Maura pulled out her phone and opened her text history with Jane. She knew the detectives were out talking to Alexis Eldsfield's neighbors. Jane would want to know about the discovery as soon as possible, but Maura hesitated. They hadn't even run it through CODIS yet. She locked her phone and put it back on the table. She would inform Jane and Korsak of the find when they had some results. That way she wouldn't be wasting anyone's time with useless information.

Maura glanced through the glass doors of the lab and caught sight of Kent, busy at work. She really wished the AC was working.

Suddenly she remembered the last time Kent had offered to fix the AC and had wired the vents to the wrong place. Maura had never been that high in her life. She had never been high in her life. Then when Jane found them, rambling nonsense and believing they were hysterical. That had not been one of her finest moments. _I looove glazed donuts…_ Maura shivered at the memory.

"Kent perhaps we should just call maintenance. Another week without air-conditioning won't hurt anyone."

XXXXX

Jane took a cursory survey of the building that was Baker's Gym. It was a large open space littered with punching bags, speed bag, weights and areas where trainers could work with their clients. In the middle of the building was a boxing ring. Two people were currently engaged in a boxing match. Some people had stopped their workouts to observe the fight. She couldn't see either of their faces but she could tell it was a man and a woman.

"Impressive aren't they?" A man in his early fifties came up to them. He was a portly man with a receding hairline. "I'm Bill proud owner of the Baker's Gym. You two don't look like you're here for the entertainment."

"We're actually looking for someone," Jane said. Her focus was still mainly on the two fighters who were ducking and weaving from each other's punches. She pulled her badge out and showed it to Bill. "Detective's Jane Rizzoli and Vince Korsak."

Bill studied her ID for a second before nodded apparently satisfied that the two were who they said they were. "Who is it you're looking for?"

"Alexis Eldsfield," Korsak said. "We heard she frequents your gym."

"She's one of my best fighters," Bill said proudly. "Is she in some kind of trouble?"

"We just want to ask her some questions." Jane finally turned away from the fight to address Bill directly. "Is she here?"

"You'll need to wait a couple minutes to talk to her," Bill nodded towards the ring. "One thing you don't do is pull Alex out of a fight even if it's just practice."

"Do you always let women box against men?" Korsak asked.

"Only Alex," he paused considering the question for a moment. "Sometimes during Amateur Night but usually not."

"Is there a reason she's so special?" Jane watched as Alex threw a right hook and caught her opponent square in the jaw.

Bill pointed to Alex as she followed up with a left upper-cut that landed on the other fighters chin. "That right there. Alex hasn't been fighting long but she takes pretty much everyone down who is dumb enough to get in the ring with her." He smiled obviously proud of Alex's skills. "I put her in with the guys because they have strength and give her a challenge. She has speed which is good for the guys to practice with. She's in with Fin now. This is their fourth match today. Alex won the first and third. Fin won the second."

Jane couldn't deny she was impressed with Alexis. Her abilities were remarkable. But as Jane and Korsak continued to watch her fight Fin their suspicion of the woman grew. She looked better for the murder every minute.

Fin fell back after a particularly hard blow to the chest. Alex let out a cry of triumph. She was breathing heavily. Fin stayed on the mat glaring up at her, obviously angry he lost to her again.

"Next match you're going down Eldsfield."

"You keep telling yourself that Fin." Alex grinned, her lips pulling back over a blue mouth guard. She pulled of her face guard and spit out her mouth guard as she left Fin where he was.

She had just grabbed her water bottle when she noticed Bill watching her. He wasn't alone. Next to him stood the detectives from the other day. Jane Rizzoli looked all too happy to see her. Alex frowned as the two detectives made their way up to the ring. She could tell this wasn't just a social visit.

Jane looked up at Alex with a smirk. She would take immense pleasure in hauling Eldsfield to the station. Thanks to Nina they were able to get an estimate on the killer's height, and Alex just happened to be in the vicinity of 5'9".

There was something else too. Jane and Korsak both noticed it. Just above the collar of Alex's sleeveless shirt was a fading bruise. It could have easily been caused by Grace Harper when she struggled to escape her killer.

"There a reason you two are here?" Alex asked not even trying to hide her annoyance.

"A few actually," Jane smiled. "You should come with us. There are some things we need to ask you about."

"You can't just ask me here?"

"I think you might want to talk to us without an audience Alex."

"You're unbelievable detective. You suspect me or something?"

"Should we have a reason to?"

"No but I'm sure you'll come up with something on your own." Alex sighed shaking her head. "Alright I'll cooperate."

"We appreciate it." The comment earned a scoff from Alex. "Just out of curiosity Alex, how tall are you?"

"5'9". What size shoe do you wear?"

Jane ignored the sarcastic question and glanced at Korsak. The look he gave her told Jane all she needed to know. They had her. All they needed was a DNA sample and they would nail her for Grace Harper's murder.


	4. Chapter 4

**So sorry for the long delay in updates. I had a 5-page single spaced report I had to do for a business writing class and it was horrid. I haven't had any time to type with scheduling next semester, studying for final etc. Hopefully the next week or so will be light on work so I will be able to type up chapter 5 (which I already have some content for). I'll try not to take two weeks but it all depends on school.**

 **In any case thank you so much for reading and being patient with me. Please let me know what you think. Let me know your theories or whatever else! Sometimes your comments give me ideas for the direction of the story. And they always remind me why I continue to write fanfictions. Anyway. As always enjoy.**

Chapter 4

Alex sat across from Detective Rizzoli. She waited for one of them to start asking her questions. It wasn't the first time Alex had found herself sitting in an interrogation room. Of course the last time the detectives had called it an interview room, she had been in New York and she had been the victim. There had been other times as well, but she had been neither a victim nor a suspect in any of those instances. But that had been another life. None of that mattered now as she sat there. Her past wouldn't change anything that was happening with Gracie's murder.

"So you going to start asking questions or are you just going to stare at me the rest of the day?" Alex asked as she leaned forward to rest her arms on the table. "Not that I mind but I've got a dog at home."

"I'm just trying to figure out why you lied to us," Jane shrugged. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Care to explain to us why your neighbor told us you went out again after you told us you never left."

"What are you talking about? I got home got Blue back inside and went to bed. That's it."

"Alex we know you left your apartment again an hour later. You aren't helping yourself by lying." Jane could clearly see Alex's growing annoyance. "So where did you go?"

Alex knew there was no way she could lie herself out of the situation. To be perfectly honest she didn't want to lie about it. However, Jane was really pushing her, trying to get her to admit to something she didn't so, and that made her less willing to be helpful. Knowing there was nothing she could say she gave Jane what she wanted.

"Alright. Yes, I went out again. But I wasn't heading back to the bars. I was taking Blue for a walk."

"At 2 in the morning, alone, on a Sunday after you had been drinking for several hours?" Jane's expression turned skeptical. No one went out alone in Boston that late at night. It was dangerous and downright stupid. It was probably what got Grace Harper killed. Hell Jane carried a gun and she never went out that late without someone with her.

"Yes at 2 in the morning I don't need him pissing on my carpet." Alex suddenly became extremely defensive. "Who in their right mind is going to jump a woman walking around with a dog-sized tank?"

"I can think of a few people." Talking to Alex was like talking to a brick wall. Jane was already regretting asking Korsak to let her do this alone. "So where did you go?"

"There's a park not far from my apartment. We stayed about an hour. Fresh air clears the head after all." She wanted to jump across the table and punch the detective. She could take Jane. Hell she could probably take Jane's partner too. The gun however would probably drop Alex in less than a second.

It was one of the worst excuses Jane had ever heard from a suspect but it was clear Alex would need a little push to get talking. Jane picked up the file she had next to her on the vacant chair. She pulled out a still of the killer Nina had gotten from the security video. She slid it across the table for Alex to look at.

Alex stared at the photo for a moment before taking it in her hands and examining it closer. It was a man- or a tall woman- in a hooded jacket. Their face was obscured not only by the dimness of the area but also because of the hood pulled over the person's head. She had no idea what she was supposed to make of the image. She looked at it again. The realization hit her hard. _Gracie…_

She glared at Jane, shoving the image roughly back towards the detective. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Alex growled referring to the fact Jane had given her a picture of Gracie's dead body with the killer standing over her.

"Do you recognize that person in the picture?" Jane asked coolly, completely ignoring Alex's question.

"You talking about Gracie or the hooded guy?" Alex snapped. "Cause if its hoodie guy no. I don't."

"You sure?"

"Yes detective I'm sure."

"Because we have reason to believe that hooded person is you."

That did it.

Alex slammed her fists down on the table. Her face went red as her blood boiled with anger. Jane actually found herself leaning away from Alex because of the force of her anger. She hoped Korsak wouldn't come in. She was about get somewhere with Alex. It was something Jane had learned through years of dealing with bad guys. When they got angry they got stupid. And when they got stupid? Well that was when they got confessions.

"And how exactly do you figure that?" Alex's voice had dropped. Her words were full of rage. She was doing everything in her power not to completely lose it.

"Is there a reason you're getting so angry Alex?" Jane sat forward showing Alex she wasn't the least bit intimidated by her.

"You're accusing me of murder with absolutely no evidence please tell me why I shouldn't be angry."

"Who said we don't have any evidence?"

"For one you haven't arrested me, read me my rights or produced anything that would stand as physical evidence. Whatever you may have as of right now is circumstantial at best." Her anger was still there but she was slowly pushing it back. Forcing herself to calm down.

"You sound like you speak from experience."

Alex cocked an eyebrow at Jane. Suddenly her rage disappeared as she let out a roaring laugh. The surprise on Jane's face said it all- she had no idea what Alex found so funny.

"Did you not even look into my personal history detective?" Alex continued to laugh and add to Jane's growing confusion. "Of course you didn't because then you'd know I _do_ speak from experience."

"I don't follow."

"I graduated from Law School. I passed my bar exam and interned with the D.A.'s office in New York. I was working on becoming a Prosecutor. I only moved here because of the assault and I found it too difficult to continue with law." Alex was finally able to stop laughing.

For someone who had made it her job to know enough about Alexis Eldsfield, Jane felt pretty damn stupid that she hadn't taken the time to read about her education and time working as a lawyer. It didn't matter that much in the long run. Alex was a site manager now, not a lawyer, she couldn't work as one in the state of Massachusetts. She still was the same height as the person in the security video and she still had multiple bruises that were consistent with ones left by someone struggling for their life.

"Fine," Jane sighed. She felt like she had never conducted an interrogation before. Somehow Alex gotten to her. Instead of making Alex sweat, Jane was getting flustered. "When the killer had Grace in a chokehold," Jane rose from her seat to come around the table and stand behind Alex. She wrapped her arm around Alex's neck just as the killer had to Grace. "Grace struggled. She tried to fight, using all the self-defense training she had."

Jane tightened her arm around Alex's neck. The pressure was only enough to make Alex uncomfortable not nearly enough to cause her any real harm. Jane moved down so she was at face level with Alex. "She hurt her attacker. Probably left some bruises but she had no chance. Her killer was stronger."

She felt Alex leaning back into the chair trying to get rid of some of the pressure. Jane didn't let her. Instead she continued to recount what she had seen the killer did to Grace. She leaned in, her lips near millimeters from Alex's ear. "Her killer leaned in probably speaking to her like I'm speaking to you now. Probably urging her to fight harder. Telling her how good it felt to feel the life drain out of her while she struggled. They left DNA behind Grace's ear."

"You trying to scare me detective?"

"I'm making a point." Jane released her hold on Alex.

Alex rubbed her neck glaring at Jane as she made her way back to her seat. "You'll need to explain because I'm lost. If I didn't know better, I'd say that was some weird ass foreplay."

"Don't flatter yourself. The bruises on your chest they're consistent with bruises that would be left from Grace struggling against you as you strangled her."

"You're kidding right?" Alex asked. "You did see me boxing today right? I don't wear any padding besides what's on my head. Bruises happen."

"If they happened today they would just be forming. That bruise," Jane pointed to the purple mark below Alex's collarbone. "That bruise is at least a day old."

"Suddenly a doctor?"

"Close friends with a medical examiner," Jane shrugged. "So unless you have another explanation for the bruises I'm going to assume you got them when you murdered Grace."

Alex shook her head, sighing. "I didn't get them from killing anyone." She took a deep breath. Alex had seen the bruise on her chest earlier that morning and yes, it did look like someone fought with her, but in reality it had been left by Marian. There were four more like it hidden by her shirt.

Keeping her eyes locked with Jane's, Alex rose and lifted up her shirt. She shivered slightly from the cold air of the interrogation room, but she kept her shirt up, making damn sure Jane saw each of the bruises and knew what they were from. "Last time I checked you don't get bite marks on your abdomen when you kill someone." Alex paused for a second. "Of course it's not often I get them at all. I usually leave marks on my partners not the other way around. Probably why they left them where I could hide them."

It would have been impossible for Jane to mistake the love bites as anything other than what they were. Jane glanced up at Alex's face then back to her toned abdomen. She couldn't imagine Alex allowing a man to bite her, let alone imagine a man who would want to sleep with a woman who could probably kill them. Stranger things had happened though.

"You can put your shirt down," Jane instructed Alex.

Alex did as Jane instructed. She sat back down in the metal chair a smug look crossed her face. If the detective wanted to play this game Alex would indulge her. As much as she wanted to aid in the investigation and be cooperative with the detectives she wasn't the type to allow herself to be stepped on. If Jane was going to attack her with everything she had and everything she didn't then Alex would act accordingly. She leaned forward, lacing her fingers together as she rested them on the table.

"Alright Detective I'll tell you what, because I like you so much, I'm going to humor you." Alex bit her lip as if considering something. Then she smiled, knowing it would bother the detective. "Hypothetically if you are right, what was my motive? Why would I kill my best friend? You tell me that I'll give you a DNA sample."

Jane had a thousand ideas for motive. Alex had a temper that was easily brought out. She also seemed like a jealous person and jealousy could make people do crazy things. But Jane didn't say any of the reasons that came to mind. She found it strange that Alex would rather hear what motives the detectives considered and then give her DNA instead of just giving a sample. If Alex was truly innocent like she maintained, then giving her DNA would only clear her. Jane found it difficult to fathom why Alex would want to reinforce suspicions on herself by not openly cooperating. _She's trying to play you Jane._

Jane shook the thought from her head. Whatever Alex's reason was in asking Jane for her theories she didn't care. "You understand you're only making things more difficult for yourself?"

"Completely."

"After being so cooperative with us."

"As a courtesy I wanted to be. But honestly detective, since you're so dead set on pinning me for a murder I _did not_ commit I feel the need to make you work. Even if it makes me more of a suspect."

"Why?"

"Because even though the lawyer in me is saying to exonerate myself the rest of me is saying to be the jackass you think I am." The corner of Alex's mouth pulled back into a snarl. "No matter what I do your mind won't change about me. I know the type so get on with it detective or I'm leaving."

Jane positioned herself so that she was mimicking Alex, with her arms resting on the table, hands together and eyes directly focused on one another. She loved when suspects played hardball and Alex was no exception, even if Jane didn't understand the reason behind it.

"Alright Alex we'll do this your way," she sighed.

"I appreciate it."

Rolling her eyes Jane began to run through her theories in her mind. Originally she had thought Alex had killed Grace out of rage. Unfortunately, with what Alex had shown Jane, it was evident that she had almost full control over her temper. Even so people could snap for no reason- even with the best control. She and Korsak had come up with another theory that fit better, however, they hadn't had the opportunity to talk with Cody again to see if the theory had and real standing.

"You're a hard person to figure out. We talked to Cody. He said you three were close. That you even went to Florida together last year."

"We did and we are," Alex confirmed. "We met in college and we stayed in touch ever since. We went to Florida to celebrate their engagement."

"Is that how all three of you ended up moving to Boston?" Jane asked genuinely curious.

"They moved down a couple years before I did employment opportunities and all," Alex explained. "Me? I was just running from my problems. Cody offered me a place to stay until I found an apartment then I stayed. No point in going back."

"So you could say you were closer to Cody than Grace?" Jane realized as she talked with Alex that if she spoke as if Alex wasn't a suspect Alex opened up more. She took note of that. Being confrontational with Alex would get them nowhere.

"I guess," she said with a shrug. "Before they started dating Cody and I usually went bar hopping together."

"And after?"

"Gracie started coming with us. She liked being with Cody, I liked drinking with friends."

Jane nodded, taking everything Alex told her to heart. The information she was getting from Alex would be useful later if she did prove to be the killer. What Jane was learning was actually strengthening her theory on the motive. She had wondered about Alex's relationship with Cody since first talking to Alex.

"So you didn't feel left out when it came to their relationship?" Jane was cautious with the question.

A look flashed across Alex's face, one that Jane couldn't quite understand. She didn't get a chance to decipher it because as soon as it had appeared it was gone.

Alex rose from her seat and stepped away from the table. Jane watched her closely but made no attempt to have Alex sit down. She let Alex move towards the window and look out. Jane could tell there was something on the woman's mind.

"I was happy for them," she said after another minute of silence. "But that isn't what you asked. Yes, sometimes I felt like a third-wheel with them. Did it matter? Not really. I had two good friends. Just because I was single and they weren't didn't make a difference to me."

Alex closed her eyes. Jane watched her stand at the window, unmoving, wrapped up in her own thoughts. _Now or never Jane._ She took a second to gather herself before she rose and joined Alex by the window. Alex didn't acknowledge Jane at first when she leaned against the wall.

When Alex opened her eyes again Jane noticed a sadness in them that hadn't been there before. Alex wasn't giving herself away. She remained focused on the window and the view beyond it. Her shoulders remained squared, back straight, expression neutral.

"And when they got engaged?" Jane asked.

"First to congratulate them…Took them to Florida." She glanced at Jane then back out the window. "What are you getting at?"

"I think you were jealous."

Alex laughed harshly: "Jealously? It's a great motive Detective- if there is something to be jealous of."

"You were close with Cody and when he got engaged you felt betrayed. He left you alone and you couldn't stand that." There was no going back now. As soon as the words left her mouth she saw Alex go ridged and her face twist with anger.

"You think I killed Gracie because she was marrying Cody?" Alex spoke in a low, threatening growl. "It wasn't changing anything we were still friends."

"I think you wanted to be more than friends with Cody, you wanted what Grace had and the only way you could have that was to kill Grace."

Jane suddenly wished she hadn't stood so close to Alex. She had seen what Alex was capable of. Even with Korsak standing on the other side of the one-way mirror, Jane was sure Alex could cause serious damage to her before Korsak could stop her. She didn't back away. Instead she chose to stand her ground, figuring it would be better to give Alex the impression she wasn't intimidated.

Alex turned to face her. Much to Jane's surprise Alex didn't appear angry, frustrated or even upset. Instead she just appeared distant towards Jane. Then she smiled. It wasn't the smile from before; the one full of confidence and cockiness. Jane wasn't even sure the smile was directed at her.

"So Gracie's death was a result of a lover scorned." It wasn't so much a question as much as a statement. "You talked to my neighbors right? Nancy and that snot-nose bastard Jason?"

"We did."

"I'm sure one of them mentioned my 'guests' as Nancy likes to put it?"

"They did."

"You have a good theory, but if you think I killed Grace your theory has one big hole in it."

"Enlighten me."

"Those 'guests' I have over? They aren't there for the company."

"And this makes my theory wrong somehow?"

"If you'd let me finish," Alex muttered. "All of them are women."

Jane cocked an eyebrow. She wasn't completely understanding what Alex was saying to her. Alex sighed while shaking her head. "What I'm trying to tell you Detective is your 'theory' aside from not being true since I didn't murder Grace is also wrong because I have never so much as kissed a man."

"You've lost me."

"I'm gay detective. All of my partners are women. In other words, there would be no reason for me to kill Grace because she was marrying Cody because I. Don't. Care." Alex made sure to emphasis the last three words. She was getting angry again.

Well Jane hadn't been _completely_ wrong about Alex. No man had ever had the ability to sleep with Alex. It explained a lot about Alex. But it didn't completely rule out her theory. And she made sure Alex knew that.

"Alright. Maybe you killed her because she was leaving you behind."

Alex finally exploded. "Are you fucking kidding me Detective?! Get it through your head there was nothing between us! I loved Gracie! I cared about her! I looked out for her! I fucked up! I left her alone and now she's dead but I did not kill her!"

Jane suddenly felt her pent up frustration escape her as Alex screamed at her. She'd only ever lost her temper with a suspect on two occasions. This would make three. "You haven't done much to prove your innocence Alex!" Jane shoved a finger in Alex's chest. "You've lied to us and you've been less then forthcoming with us. So what makes you think that I would believe you now?"

"Everyone has something to hide Jane. I have my fair share of skeletons that I don't share." Alex pushed Jane's hand from her chest. "I have them, Grace had them, your partner has them. And you have them. So get out of my face."

Jane stood in stunned silence. To say she was at a loss was an understatement. What Alex had said implied she was hiding something else. It had no place in the conversation so it could mean absolutely nothing. Alex could have said it just to throw Jane off balance. Which had worked out perfectly if that was the intended effect.

By the time Jane got her bearings Alex had her duffle in hand and was moving towards the door. "We're done here. You want my DNA get yourself a warrant. Otherwise stay the hell away from me." And just like that Alex was gone, leaving Jane alone.

XXXXX

"That could have gone better," Korsak said as he came into the interrogation room.

Jane looked up at him before dropping her head to her hands. "There's something she isn't telling us." Her voice was muffled by her hands but she could have cared less.

"I agree but right now she isn't talking," Korsak said. "We'll get a warrant. Until then we'll do some good old-fashioned police work."

"I want evidence Vince," Jane said raising her head. "I want evidence that will prove beyond a doubt Alexis Eldsfield killed Grace Harper."

XXXXX

Alex couldn't get the elevator to arrive fast enough. No matter how hard she slammed the call button the seconds dragged on. She was moments away from kicking the unmoving metal doors when the tell-tale ding of the elevator met her ears.

She mumbled quietly to herself as the doors parted. She didn't bother to check to see if anyone was in the elevator before she stepped forward…and ran right into a woman. Multiple manila folders scattered on the floor.

"Shit!" Alex bent down to help gather the files, momentarily forgetting her frustration. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright," the woman said, kneeling down to assist Alex. "Things happen."

Alex smiled and held up the stack she had gathered. _Woah…Hello gorgeous._ She thought when her eyes fell upon the woman she had collided with. Alex could tell just by what the woman was wearing that she wasn't a cop. Whatever she did she was out of place among all of the detectives and police dressed in slacks or uniforms. Alex caught herself staring at the woman, distracted by the golden brown hair and her hazel eyes.

It was only when the elevator door started to close that Alex remembered she was trying to leave. She reached past the woman to keep the doors from sliding shut. As much as she wanted to get the woman's name she wanted to get out of there more.

"Again I'm sorry I really need to pay more attention to where I'm going."

The woman only smiled as the doors began to slide shut again. Alex's hand shot out again to stop the door. "I'm Alex-" the door closed before she could finish her sentence. She sighed and collapsed against the wall.

To herself she finished: "Alexis Eldsfield… I'm Alexis Eldsfield and you are definitely the most attractive woman around here…"

XXXXX

Maura straightened her skirt as she went to meet Jane at her desk. She had recognized the woman who had just run into her as Jane's suspect; Alexis Eldsfield. Her picture hung on the detective's 'murder board'. Much to Maura's surprise Alexis was much more attractive in person. She had excellent bone structure and beautiful eyes.

"Having an exchange with our suspect?" Jane asked when Maura came up to her.

"Not exactly," Maura replied. "Here. I ran through everything again as you requested."

"Thank you. You find anything?"

"Kent found blood on the victims blouse it was a match to the saliva we found on her neck."

"So still nothing."

"Get me something to test it against and I'd have more."

"I know," Jane sighed. "We're working on it… Whoever killed Grace was smart enough not to leave anything behind. I don't get it."

"You still believe Alexis is good for it?"

"Very. But…"

"But…?"

"Something just isn't adding up. I don't know what it is but… it's there. Once I find it maybe it'll crack this entire case wide open."

Maura smiled. She hoped something would come up that would help her best friend. Maura was actually worried about Jane. She hadn't seen the detective so worked up over a case since Hoyt. This was completely different. It wasn't a serial murder and Jane had no personal connection to it. Jane was just focused. That scared Maura a lot. If Jane got too worked up with the case she could get hurt.

"Jane you mentioned Alexis has taken multiple mixed martial arts and boxing classes?"

"Yeah that's why we're looking at her. She would have learned a basic stranglehold in MMA."

"Is there any way to find any video of her using her MMA skills?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I'm sure we can find where she takes her classes. Why?"

"I have a theory that I want to test."

"Uh huh. You mean a hunch?"

"A theory."

"Care to explain to us?"

"Perhaps," Maura said. "Once you get me what I need."

"You're no fun."

"I simply like to have something to show you before I get your hopes up."

Jane chuckled: "Oh is that what it is?" Maura's lips parted in question which only made Jane laugh harder. "Is that what you were doing when we went undercover at that lesbian bar? Getting my 'hopes' up by showing me 'something'?" Jane emphasized the words 'hopes' and 'something' with air quotes.

"I was trying to be believable."

"Trust me Maura you didn't need to display your breasts to everyone to be believable."

"Excuse me?"

"Let me rephrase. I didn't need a face-full of your breasts for you to be believable."

Maura giggled: "You need to let that go."

"Never."

Maura rolled her eyes but she was smiling. It was always nice when Jane could forget a case that wasn't going well and smile. But her worry still nagged at the back of her mind. Hopefully the theory she had would shed some light on the murder… so long as Jane could get video of Alex fighting. Until then Maura was pretty useless as there was nothing for her to test or examine that hadn't already been gone over with a fine-toothed comb.

 **A/N: Long chapter again. I know it's a lot of Alex and Jane and it may seem a little rushed case wise but trust me. It's far from over. The next few chapters will bring the case and the relationship between Alex, Jane and Maura together. Hopefully in a way that makes sense. I'm really trying to make this good for you guys. It means so much to me when you actually enjoy and want to read more of my story. I don't like to disappoint. Thanks again for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys sorry about the delay. The past couple weeks have been hell with finals coming up, projects being due. It's deadweek as of now so I'll be able to work on the story when not studying. Next week and the week after are pretty busy but I'll do my best to update soon. After that I'm free for the summer so I should be able to deliver some content on a fairly regular basis.**

 **Also just to note some of you guys just need to take a minute to breathe. Maura and Alex just ran into each other. It'll be alright I promise. In any case this chapter is pretty laid back but I promise to get back to the action soon. So thank you for reading, please let me know what you think and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 5

The week had gone by slowly after Jane had questioned Alex at the station. Maura's request for recordings of Alex fighting had been slow going in regards to getting them and going through them all. Jane still didn't know what Maura was looking for exactly, but for two days, whenever Maura wasn't in the morgue she was up with Nina searching for whatever it was she thought she might find. Korsak and Jane on the other hand were stuck with nothing. They still hadn't been able to obtain a warrant from the judge. Apparently it was due to a back-log of cases that fell above theirs. Jane had other ideas of course. What judge would sign a warrant with little probable cause to back it up? The blood and saliva should have been enough, especially with the security footage and the images of the killer. All they could do was wait until they got their warrant or Jane would have to figure out how to sweet-talk Alex back into being cooperative.

With how badly the interrogation had gone it was unlikely the latter would yield any results. Alex was clearly a person with serious issues, both mentally and emotionally. When Jane pushed in on direction Alex met her with anger and would lash out. When Jane pushed in another direction Alex had relaxed and was forthcoming with her answers. The brick wall Jane was met with wasn't entirely because of Alex. Jane was to blame as well for how poorly the interrogation went. She went in unyielding, determined to get what she wanted from her suspect and it had hurt the case.

She thought about that moment as she sat at the Dirty Robber while the others talked around her.

Jane fingered the glass bottle in front of her. It was still cold, small drops of condensation rolled down the sides, causing the label to start peeling. Something that Alex had said during the interview was chewing away at her. _'Everyone has something to hide Jane.'_ It was something Jane had heard before, something Jane herself had said to multiple suspects on multiple occasions. So why was it bothering her?

Of course, she already knew the answer. Without even trying Alex had indirectly struck a chord. It was something she repressed, or at least tried to, since she had graduated from the Academy. Recently though it had started to bother her again. Somedays Jane struggled with it for hours, other times none at all. She hadn't told anyone about it. She'd forced herself to ignore it; to try and forget it. Alex's words, although only a statement at the time, felt more and more like accusations to Jane.

She sighed, _I have been gunning for Alex…_ it hadn't started out that way. Slowly it had morphed from her following a hunch to her looking for whatever she could to prove Alex was guilty. _I should give her the same benefit of doubt that I give any other suspect… even though she doesn't deserve it._ Maybe Alex was innocent, maybe Jane was wrong, but one thing was for sure; Alexis Eldsfield was a womanizing scumbag.

"Jane did you hear me?"

Jane looked up, the sound of Maura's voice having brought her from her thought. "I'm sorry. What did you say?" She had completely lost track of the entire conversation that had been going on around her. _Had we been talking about the case? No. The game next week?_ With the look that Maura was giving her she was sure that hadn't been it either. _Why would Maura ask about baseball? Doesn't matter Jane. What the hell were we talking about?_

"Korsak and Frankie were talking about the Academy."

"Right…" Jane nodded, pretending like she actually had an idea of what was going on. "What about it?"

Maura shook her head, sighing in the process. Jane had the shortest attention span of anyone Maura had known. She was sure her friend had some form of ADD. "The most difficult part of training." She repeated, making sure Jane knew she was annoyed.

Jane smiled and brought the rim of the bottle to her mouth, letting to cold liquid was down her throat. Maura was easy to get frustrated and most of the time Jane found it very entertaining. She knew that taking her time to answer the question would annoy Maura further. It wasn't like she was doing it on purpose. The Academy had been years ago. It almost felt like a life time ago. She didn't revisit the memory much. Come to think of it Jane couldn't remember any point in time where she had talked with Maura about her police training.

It wasn't that she didn't _want_ to tell Maura about it, she just didn't like to talk about it. Jane didn't like bragging and talking about training felt like bragging. She had been top of her class, graduated top of the class and was an all-around good cadet. Work was work and her job was to put bad guys away, what was there to brag about?

"Pepper spray training," she said after thinking for another minute.

Beside her Korsak and Frankie nodded in agreement. Nothing hurt worse than an eyeful of Mace.

"I'd rather get shot again then have that shit in my face again," Frankie said. Angela, who had joined them at some point, glared at her son. "What?"

"When I got sprayed I thought I was going to die. Throat hurt, I couldn't see, my skin burned like a sonofabitch. Went through the course like instructed washed that shit out and thought I went blind." Jane smiled at the memory, although unpleasant it had been a serious learning experience. Back then she had easily run the course tears running from her eyes and snot dripping from her nose. It hadn't been a pretty sight. "Course the instructor holding the Red-man shield hadn't expected to be hit _that_ hard by a cadet… God that was terrible."

"It's the oleoresin capsicum in the spray that causes the irritation of the throat, eyes and skin," Maura explained even though no one had asked her too. "Difficulty breathing, burning, temporary blindness are common side-effects. Severe cases can lead to long-term eye damage, laryngospasm and even death."

Her explanation earned her looks from everyone at the table- including Angela.

"Thank you Poindexter," Jane said using Maura's nickname teasingly. "You have enlightened us all with your infinite wisdom."

Maura could tell Jane was only teasing her. Still she pursed her lips. She hated being called Poindexter next to Queen of the Dead and Maura the Bora it was one of the worst. Sometimes she had trouble discerning the intent behind Jane's words. But she knew exactly what to say to get Jane back.

"It's never a bad time to learn something new," she said. "For instance how did you get the nickname Roly-Poly-Rizzoli?"

As expected Jane shot Maura an icy glare, grumbling to herself. Maura knew how she got that nickname and knew exactly why she hated it. Then again Jane knew Maura hated the nicknames she had earned over the years. So they were even.

"Why don't you tell her about your experience with a TASER," Korsak suggested out of the blue. "Back in my day we didn't have to go through that."

Both Jane and Frankie shuddered visibly at the mention of TASER training. Both of them had felt the pain of two metal prongs sticking in their back sending an uncomfortable amount of electricity through them. Jane had used a TASER on one occasion. It was easier than a gun and had far less paperwork involved.

"His or mine?" Jane asked jabbing her thumb in the direction of her brother.

"Yours was more entertaining," Frankie said.

"Please do tell." Maura grew more curious as the three officer continued to reminisce about their time as cadets.

She had seen stun guns at work. The darts punctured the skin then released a 50,000-volt charge that would cause temporary paralysis because of the contraction of the person's muscles. She found them fascinating.

There was a case Maura had read about in Las Vegas. The police were trying to subdue a woman using Pepper Spray and a TASER. The combination had caused the woman's clothing to ignite, ultimately killing her. Maura decided to keep that bit of information to herself for the moment. Obviously, in both Jane and Frankie's case, it had been under monitored conditions. Which made the idea of Jane temporarily losing control of her motor skills slightly amusing to the medical examiner.

"Well we were in the training room and our instructor came in told us we were going to have to get hit with the stun gun. He asked for a volunteer to go first so, of course, I volunteered," Jane said proudly. "Anyway he had two cadets, big guys, good cops now, keep me from falling flat on my face."

Jane grinned at the memory. The pain she'd felt during the two seconds it took to shock her was absolute hell, but the aftermath had been hilarious.

"So the instructor stood about 5 feet away, the guys had a hold of me and all of a sudden, with no warning he fired the damn thing."

Korsak and Frankie laughed with Jane already knowing the rest of the story.

"I bet both those guys regret ever holding you up to this day," Frankie said as his laughter died down.

"Why? What happened?" Maura was genuinely interested now.

"I started cussing every single one of them out. Anything to get it to hurt less and um I may have uh…" Jane rubbed the back of her neck glancing sheepishly at Maura. "I may have gotten an arm free and punched on of the guys…square in the balls."

"You punched a man while being tased?" Maura asked, a look of disbelief crossing her face.

"Accidentally," Jane assured. "It wasn't like I had much control over my limbs."

Maura giggled: "What happened after that?"

"Drug the guy left holding me up down with me. I was gripping onto his arm so tight it brought him to his knees," Jane said.

"They stayed clear of Janie after that," Frankie laughed.

"Laugh all you want Frankie," Jane warned. "It's funny because it didn't happen to you. Why don't you tell Maura about the time you tore your pants chasing a suspect and locked yourself out of your squad car."

The jab had caught Frankie off guard causing him to swallow his drink wrong making him cough. The group around Frankie pushed back in their chairs to avoid getting an unplanned spit take. There was a collective 'come on' of disgust from everyone as Frankie tried to get ahold of himself. Frankie wiped what he could with the pile of napkins Angela handed him. he was able to clear most of the table of his lost beer but a lot of the drink had ended up on his shirt.

"You're paying to get this cleaned," he informed Jane.

"Oh no that was your own fault," Jane said as she rose from her chair. "Get ma to clean it for you."

"Where are you going?" Korsak asked.

"It's getting late." Jane glanced at her phone. It was only 6:45PM but she wanted to head to the batting cages before they closed. "I've got some things I need to do."

"Do you need a ride?" Maura asked.

Jane shook her head. The walk would do her some good and the batting cages weren't too far from the Dirty Robber or her apartment. Jane really just needed to work out her frustration over the case and the nagging thought in the back of her mind she refused to acknowledge. She didn't see any better way then knocking some balls with an aluminum bat.

XXXXX

The owner of the batting cage was a good friend of the BPD and a close friend with Jane. He pointed Jane to cage sixteen, the one he referred to as the cage with the 'most functional pitching machine'. In reality all of the pitching machines worked the same aside from the speeds. The only difference with cage sixteen was that no late night group of teens looking to mess around would bother Jane. It was the last in the row of cages and had a solid wall on one side. The cage on the other side would be unoccupied unless people suddenly decided they needed to hit a few at 7:15PM. Sixteen was also the only cage to have an adjustable speed on the pitching machine. Most of the time it didn't work so whoever was in the cage was stuck hitting fastballs, which Jane didn't mind, this time it seemed to allow fast and medium speeds.

Jane set the helmet the owner, Roy, had given her in the corner of the cage. He had to sign out helmets to people if they didn't bring their own for liability purposes. People didn't have to wear them as long as they had forms fill out, which Jane did, but Roy always was saying 'better safe than sorry'. She leaned her bat against the chain-link so she could pull her hair back into a ponytail. The last thing she needed was a fastball to the side because of her hair getting in the way.

With her hair out the way and her bat in hand Jane hit the button to start the machine. One ball flew right past her before she had a chance to square up. The next pitch she was ready for. She dropped her elbow, twisted at the waist and swung. The ball connected with the bat with a clank and the ball went flying. Jane didn't bother celebrating as she reset her stance.

The next ball came and she repeated the action. Drop, twist, swing, hit, reset. It was smooth, swift an absent of thought. If you over thought your swing to much you would end up missing. Jane knew that, just like firing a gun swinging a bat was ingrained into her mind. She'd played softball in high school. Both Varsity and Junior Varsity as a first basemen and catcher. She had a good batting average. One that she maintained during friendly department games.

Pitch, drop, twist, swing, hit, reset. She was focus on the task at hand. Finally, able to forget about the case and Alex Eldsfield. And able to box those annoying feelings that kept creeping up on her.

Pitch, drop, twist, swing, hit, reset.

 _What if there's something you're missing. Something really glaring and in your face you haven't even bothered to look for because you're so caught up with Eldsfield?_ Swing, hit, drop bat. _Fuck that hurt._ Jane shook her hand to try and ease the painful vibration she felt from hitting the ball wrong. Her lapse in concentration had been a surprise to her. The case was really getting to her.

She picked up her bat and reset herself letting a ball fly past as she did so. _Focus Jane. Just you and the ball._

Pitch, drop, twist, swing, hit, reset.

 _Better. Swivel your foot more when turning into the ball._ Twist, swing, hit, reset. _You really need to stop boxing up these feelings you've been having. Maybe that's why you're so focused on Alex._ Twist, swing, miss.

"Alright fuck this enough thinking." Jane wasn't one for talking to herself but sometimes she would get to the point she had to. And when she was subconsciously berating herself about things it was a sure sign she was stressed.

"Everything alright Jane?"

Jane turned towards the voice as another ball soared past her. She was surprised to see Maura standing there. She was even more surprised that the medical examiner wasn't in her usual designer clothes and high heels. She wasn't even in her outfit from earlier. Instead Maura was in tight fitting jeans, black tennis shoes Jane was sure Maura would deny being hers, and a BSU t-shirt with a low neckline. It showed off a generous amount of cleavage which again surprised Jane. Maura wasn't shy by any means but her outfit seemed better fit on a college freshman then the refined doctor.

It took a minute for Jane to shake off the initial shock but when she did she asked: "What are you doing here Maura? Better question; how did you know I was here?"

"I stopped by your apartment to drop off a file you might want to see and you weren't there."

"So you went home and changed and…? What? Drove around until you found me?"

"I called Frankie he said you might be here."

"And you changed because?"

"I'd didn't think heels would be appropriate for the batting cages."

"Gotcha," Jane rolled her eyes. "So what was so important you chased me down here?"

"You remember after you interviewed Alexis and she ran into me at the elevator?"

"Yeah hard to miss all the paper flying everywhere."

"I noticed something when she was handing me the files. That's why I asked for any videos of her preforming a chokehold."

"You're going to have to explain a little more."

Another ball hit the fence next to Jane so she hit the stop button with the bottom of her bat.

"It took me a couple days but I was able to get her medical records from her assault. It turns out Alex had her left arm broken in multiple places."

"How is it you can get her medical records when Korsak and I can't even get a warrant for her DNA?"

"Jane."

"Right sorry broken arm. Got it."

Maura arched an eyebrow. Sometimes she wished Jane would actually listen to her instead of pretending.

"What I'm trying to tell you Jane is that because of the break she sustained Alex does not have full motion in her left arm."

Jane stopped playing with the bat and let it drop to her side. "What are you saying? That because of that injury she couldn't have killed Grace?"

Maura shook her head: "No. All I am saying is that she would have to exert more pressure with her right arm while her left was wrapped around Grace's neck."

"I'm sure that observation will crack this case wide open," Jane said sarcastically.

"Jane listen, I want to get whoever did this as much as you," Maura said. "So do I believe Alex could have killed Grace? Absolutely. But am I also looking at it from an objective point of view? Yes, which is why I need to see Alex use a chokehold. So I can compare it to the video of the murder."

"You think you would be able to tell if there's anything distinct about it?"

"Of course," Maura beamed proudly. "Remember who you're talking to."

Jane sighed with a small nod. If Maura really could do what she was proposing it couldn't hurt. If it ultimately leads to Eldsfield getting cleared so be it. _Maybe I should listen to Maura and look at this more objectively then I have been._ There had been times her objectivity had wavered during cases that had caused a murderer to roam free for much longer than they should have. They had run into a few pitfalls during this case but again Jane hadn't been as objective as she should have been.

"Well I've got another forty minutes in here," Jane considered. "Care to join me?"

"So you can make fun of how I hit the ball?"

"Maura you don't hit the ball. You calculate everything and swing. You're lucky when you hit the ball."

"There's no luck about it."

"Get in here."

Jane didn't give Maura any more time to argue as she opened the gate and pulled her friend through. She hadn't planned on having any company but she was glad Maura was there. Even if it had originally been to talk about the case.

"Left foot here, right foot here." Jane stood at the plate long enough that Maura could copy her stance. "I've got it on a fast pitch you think you can handle that?"

"Sure."

Jane smirked as she handed Maura the bat she'd been using. It was a couple inches longer than what Maura needed but Jane was confident that the doctor could still make contact. She hit the start button and took a step back so she wouldn't get hit by the ball or Maura.

The first ball rocketed passed Maura. She didn't even flinch. _Calculating again…_ the second ball came at her. This time Maura swung and missed completely. Jane held back a chuckle. She allowed Maura to reset and try again.

Pitch, wait, swing, hit. The ball dropped halfway to the machine. Jane reached over and hit the stop button. The pitching machine sputtered in protest and then fell silent. Maura turned to face her friend. Jane could read what she was thinking; _what gives Jane?_

"You need to follow through if you want that ball to go anywhere." Jane came up behind Maura, positioning herself so the toes of her shoes where against the heels of Maura's. "You don't mind do you?"

"Of course not."

Jane couldn't tell but she could have sworn Maura had blushed. _Get a grip_. Jane brought her arms around Maura and took ahold of the bats grip. She held her hands over Maura so she could control the movement.

"Pull your arm back and keep your elbow up okay?"

Maura nodded against Jane. Her focus was down field but Jane could tell she was slightly distracted. "I'm going to start the machine again we'll let the first ball go. The second I want you to swing with me." Maura nodded again. Jane pulled away to press the start again then repositioned herself.

When the second pitch came Jane could feel Maura allowing her to control the swing. When Jane twisted Maura followed, having no choice since they were so close to one another. They just barely missed the ball as it tipped off and hit the fence next to them.

"Just relax Maura. Don't think about the pitch just focus on the ball."

Jane moved so her feet were between Maura's. it was an awkward position but Jane needed to be able to guide Maura's movement. The next pitch came and once again Maura let Jane guide the movement. This time the ball connected and went flying. Both woman smiled at the successful hit.

"I guess you were right," Maura mused.

"Of course I was right," Jane scoffed.

Maura worked her hands from under Jane's and turned to face the detective while they were still pressed together. Jane bit her lip and reached back clumsily to turn off the machine once more. They were still extremely close.

Jane's mind was racing. _What is she doing? What am I doing? Say something._ She opened her mouth just to close it again. She couldn't figure out what she could say. _You look like a fish. Just say something._

Maura was watching her closely. She looked just as unsure as Jane felt. They stood there staring at one another waiting for the other to say something. _How did you become a detective again?_

"Jane listen I-"

"Hey Rizzoli I'm closing up shop. As much as I trust Boston's finest I'm going to need to kick you out."

Jane shut her eyes. Had they really been there until closing? How long had they been just standing there?

"Yeah no problem Roy we're just heading out."

Maura looked as if she wanted to finish what she had been saying but chose not to. Jane grabbed the helmet still in the corner of the cage and followed Maura as they headed towards the exit. Roy took the helmet and bat then thanked the detective for her business.

"Do you want a ride home?" Maura asked when they reached her car.

"If it isn't too much trouble."

"Never is."

XXXXX

The two were on the road when Jane finally decided to ask what Maura was going to say back at the cages.

"Nothing important. I just wanted you to know I'm here if you need me Jane. If something is wrong, you don't have to handle it on your own."

 _Ouch. Denied. Better luck next time._ Jane tried to ignore the annoying voice that kept popping up in her head. It would go away on its own. As soon as this case was closed she could lock this up in the back of her mind and forget about it.

"I know Maura," Jane smiled. "I'll be alright."

Even as she said it she didn't believe it. It was getting hard to ignore that she wanted Maura. The case had flipped some switch in her brain that had brought up the feelings she kept locked up. Each day it got that much harder not to pin Maura against the wall and kiss her. _So what's stopping you Jane?_

She knew the answer. She knew Maura. And she was sure any feelings Maura harbored towards her were nothing more than that of friends. _You could be wrong. I mean think about it. What about her says she doesn't have feelings for you?_ Again another question she knew the answer to. But right now ignoring the voice in her head and the feelings she was fighting with were better ignored until the case was over. _Or until you decide to bury them again… Remember back at the Academy?_

Jane stopped herself. She wasn't going to argue, with herself mind you, about the logistics of her problem. If they had something within the next week Jane would say something. If not… _you'll die alone._

With a sideways glance at Maura, Jane decided it would be better for the moment to just let things happen. No matter how much she wanted to throw caution to the wind for once.


	6. Chapter 6

**As a precaution I just want to mention the very end of this chapter that there is a fight breaking out between two people. I only mention it because I do not want to upset anyone with it. The scene is brief but will be continued in chapter 7 for a short bit.**

 **I hope that it doesn't take away from the story at hand. This chapter was finished fairly quickly. I just started writing today and couldn't stop. I'm proud of it. Things are starting to pick up, things are starting to clear up and things are really starting to come to light.**

 **I just hope you don't mind being treated to a second chapter update so soon. Thank you for reading and being so patient with me, please review and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 6

 _Beautiful. Gorgeous. Stunning. Perfect. If Jane had to pick a word to describe the woman beneath her it would be perfect. Jane lightly kissed the blonde's neck trailing her way to the blonde's jaw. Jane loved the way the woman reacted to her touch. The sounds that escaped the blonde only added to Jane's desire. Jane leaned down to whisper in the blonde's ear._

" _Do you have any idea how you make me feel? What you do to me?"_

 _A strong arm around Jane's shoulder pulled her down into a heated kiss. A tongue brushed her lips requesting entrance. Jane gave the woman what she wanted. Surrendering her control for the moment._

 _But just as quickly as the kiss had started it ended. Jane waited, knowing the blonde wanted to lead. And lead she did. With little effort the blonde reversed their positions so she was now straddling Jane waist. She leaned down and took Jane's earlobe between her teeth. The action earned her a moan of approval._

" _The same way you make me feel Jane." She breathed into her lover's ear. She took Jane's hand and directed it between them._

 _Both of them moaned in response. Jane wanted to take it slow, make it last. But she didn't think she had the control necessary to slowly take the woman on top of her. She didn't think the blonde could hold out either. Everything up to this moment had been unrestrained and feverish. Jane wanted to hear the blonde cry out for her when she came._

" _I want you Maura…"_

" _You have me." Maura pushed her hips forward to grind against Jane's hand. "Now take me."_

Jane jerked up in her bed, panting heavily. Her sheets were bunched up in a tangled mess around her and her sleep wear was soiled with sweat. She pressed her hand to her chest and tried to slow her breathing. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. She felt like it might explode.

"Christ…"

The alarm next to her bed was screaming at her. It hadn't registered at first but now it was painfully clear. Five seconds later the alarm slammed against her bed room wall and fell silent. The frustration from waking up from such a vivid dream having been enough for Jane to lash out. Sex dreams were not an unusual for the detective. But sex dreams about her best friend? Those bothered her. It wasn't right. There was a line that you just didn't cross with coworkers. Jane had learned that after multiple failed relationships with men she worked with. _And Emily don't forget about Emily._

"Can we just not go there please?"

Jane dropped her head. She was beginning to answer herself. _This is the kind of thing that will get you a psych eval._ She just needed to stop thinking about everything. Take a minute and clear her mind.

She swung her legs off the side of her bed. With her clock now in a dozen pieces she checked her phone for the time. 6:00AM. She had an hour before she had to leave for work.

It had been a couple days since Maura had joined Jane at the batting cages and told her about Alex's broken arm. Since then Nina had been going over every bit of security footage again, looking for something she had missed. Korsak was following up with people who worked with Grace Harper. They had always gotten the same story; everyone loved Grace.

Jane found a clean towel and headed towards the shower. She needed a cold shock to her system to at least get rid of some of the discomfort between her legs.

XXXXX

Electronics were not Jane's best friend that day. First she had destroyed her alarm clock, then her microwave refused to work, the security scanners at the store had gone off when she had walked through and now the elevator was moving as slowly as possible. She impatiently pressed the call button again trying to will it to move faster. She was now running late because she had thought she could swing by the store and buy a new clock before heading into work. It was clear that she had been very wrong.

Finally, the elevator doors slid open in front of her. Jane hit the button for the fifth floor followed by a frantic pressing of the close door. The last thing she wanted was some chatty rookie joining her in the claustrophobic metal container. She looked down with a sigh. The warmth of a cup of fresh coffee was painfully absent. When Jane missed her morning coffee she could be extremely difficult to work with.

As she made her way to her desk Jane noticed Korsak with his reading glasses on reading a report. He glanced up, noticed his partner was without her morning coffee, and went back to reading. They had worked together long enough to know each other's habits. Korsak would wait until Jane was seated at her desk and looking at him expectantly.

"Long morning?"

Jane rubbed her eyes as she nodded towards her partner. "I had to run to the store to buy a new alarm clock. I didn't think it would take as long as it did." She leaned back in her chair to pick up a file sitting on her desk. It wasn't anything about the case. Jane just needed something to flip through while she waited for any briefing Korsak may have.

"Why did you need to get a new clock?"

"Mine had an unfortunate meeting with the wall." Jane dropped the file back on her desk with the others. At least one good thing had happened, DNA for another case she had been working on came back with a positive match. They'd be able to put one killer away for what he'd done. "So ignoring the fact I haven't had any caffeine this morning, have you found anything?"

"Nothing useful from any of Grace Harper's co-workers. A few of them remembered meeting Alexis Eldsfield but all they could tell me was that Alexis seemed friendly enough." Korsak had already relayed all the information he had gathered the day before but he didn't mind going over it again.

"What about Nina?"

"Same, nothing from the camera at the crime scene that stood out. She's working on collaborating Alexis' story that she'd been out walking her dog but so far nothing. We're looking at an eight block radius from the crime scene to Alexis' apartment. There's a lot of ground to cover and not many eyes to do it with."

Jane glimpsed over towards BRIC where Nina Holiday was already watching more security footage. There were hours of it to go through and even with three techs and Nina watching through it all it would take days to watch it all. Unless, of course, they found something. Alex walking her dog like she said, the killer walking away from the scene, someone following Grace from the 21st Amendment to the place she died. Any of those things would get the ball moving again.

Their warrant for Alexis' DNA still hadn't come through. Apparently it was less of the judge's fault and more the incompetent prosecutor assigned to the case. Jane hated lawyers just as much as she hated doctors (the ones that worked on live people) lawyers just complicated things. Recently they prosecutors that came through her department were either fresh out of school, experienced but incompetent, or extremely good but demanded somewhere else.

"Did we ever get the name of Alexis' girlfriend? The one she said left the bruises on her abdomen?"

Korsak shuffled through some of the papers spread out on his desk before he found what he was looking for. He glanced over it then got up to hand it to Jane. "Marian Wright. She's a history professor over a BSU. Lived in Boston all her life, graduated from UNC, she has a younger sister who lives in Columbus. Nothing more than a speeding ticket on her records." Everything Korsak was saying Jane also read on the paper he'd handed to her. _Why would someone like this wind up with someone like Alexis?_ Jane wondered.

"Maybe we should pay her a visit? Maybe she could shed some light on what kind of person Alexis really is."

"It's worth a shot."

"Let's go. If we're lucky we might be able to catch her at lunch."

XXXXX

Alex handed the drink in her hand to Marian, who took it with a grateful smile. She had been surprised when Alex had called and asked to meet her for lunch. It wasn't an unusual occurrence. Even with their arrangement to keep things casual outside the bedroom they often found themselves meeting up to go for dinner or to a movie. Marian hadn't been looking for anything serious and neither had Alex which was why their relationship worked so well.

For this particular lunch date, they had met up at a small diner not far from the BSU campus. There were a few students scattered throughout the building, but it was fairly slow for this time of day. Which Marian appreciated.

"So Alex why the sudden lunch date?"

"Is that what you're calling it?" Alex grinned. "I didn't think you and I had 'dates'"

"What else would you call it?" Marian asked, returning a smile.

"Friends getting lunch?"

"Oh so we're friends now?"

"Haven't we always been?"

It was true that even though their relationship had started out as nothing more than a physical one after a while they'd become friends. Marian knew about Alex's other partners and Alex knew about hers. Neither of them met those partners outside of a quick fuck and maybe a night at one of the lesbian bars they frequented.

"So is there a reason you wanted to meet me for lunch?" Marian asked glancing towards the kitchen to see if their food was being prepared.

When Alex didn't answer her immediately Marian turned her attention back to her friend. Alex's smile had been replaced by a small grimace. During the time Marian had gotten to know Alex she had learned that there was a lot that Alex didn't tell her. Alex was under no obligation to Marian everything about herself. She only ever grazed the surface when talking about her past. But right now Marian was the only one she could confide in who would actually listen to her.

"I just needed to talk to someone," she admitted. "You're really the only person I figured would listen…"

"Is this about the murder?" Marian reached across the table to place her hand on Alex's. She knew some of the details and that Alex was a suspect but she didn't think Alex had anything to do with it. "Are you alright?"

"Aside from being the main suspect in a homicide investigation I'm great." Alex watched as a waitress walked by with a tray of food. "I just can't get it out of my head that if I hadn't left Grace would be alright."

"Alex you can't think like that."

"It's hard not to when everyone thinks I killed her." This time the waitress stopped at their table with the tray of food. Alex thanked her. "Hell last week they interrogated me, they think they have more because of DNA and some security footage."

"Couldn't you just give them a DNA sample so they can rule you out?"

"Yeah…About that." Alex rubbed the back of her neck giving Marian a sheepish look.

"Alex what did you do?"

"I may have gone off on the lead detective and told her to get a warrant."

"Correct me if I'm wrong but couldn't you just go to them and offer to give a sample."

"I mean, yeah I could."

"Listen as much as I love the whole macho butch thing you've got going you causing problems with the police is definitely a turn off."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Alex said defensively. "I do not have a 'macho butch thing' going on."

Marian was right. What was stopping her from going back to the detective and voluntarily giving her a DNA sample? Alex didn't have an answer. Except that maybe she was too stubborn to go back and admit she'd acted irrationally.

"I'm serious Alex, don't go making any more trouble for yourself."

"Alright if it'll make you happy I'll go by tomorrow."

"This isn't about me. You know I don't care what you do. But I don't sleep with woman who get in trouble with the law."

Alex laughed even though she knew Marian was serious. Her reputation wasn't what it used to be but Marian was a professor whose reputation meant everything. Alex had a large amount of respect for the woman who frequently spent the night with her. She wasn't going to take their friendship, however strange and unconventional it may be, for granted.

"Does this mean I can talk you into coming over tonight? We haven't pissed off Jason in a while and I really want nothing more than to take you any way I can."

Marian rolled her eyes: "You're such the romantic Alex. It's a wonder more women don't swoon over you."

"Only for you darlin'."

"Is eight alright?"

"Perfect. And if you ask nicely I may even buy you dinner."

"Mmm I highly doubt either of us will be thinking about dinner tonight," Marian said huskily.

"I will be if we don't get to eat our lunch. I've gotta get back to the site before one. And I'm sure you've got something you have to teach."

"History."

"History," Alex repeated with a smile.

XXXXX

The office Marian Wright occupied at the University was small but could comfortably hold four or five people. When the detectives had arrived they'd been informed by a secretary that they had just missed Ms. Wright. Not wanting to make a waste out of their time Korsak and Jane elected to wait for the instructor to return. Just to use up some of their time Jane had run to grab lunch. Sitting across from Ms. Wright now Jane realized tacos had been a bad idea. She was starting to feel the heartburn.

"What can I do for you today detectives?" Ms. Wright asked with a weary smile. It wasn't every day she had lunch with a woman who was a suspect in a murder case and then return to find two detectives waiting for her.

"We were hoping you could help us out," Jane said. "We wanted to ask about your relationship with Alexis Eldsfield."

"I'm not sure what you're hoping to gain from talking to me." Aside from what she'd read in the news and what Alex had told her, Marian didn't know much about the case. Marian didn't know Grace Harper at all. She'd never been introduced to any of Alex's friends.

"Are you aware that Ms. Eldsfield is a person of interest in an ongoing homicide investigation?" Korsak asked.

"She mentioned that the detectives on the case had taken a special interest in her. I assume that you are those detectives."

Jane shrugged. Apparently Marian was the person Alex went to since she hadn't been in contact with Cody since the murder. One thing that Jane noticed about the office was that all of Ms. Wright's personal belongings had one thing in common- Alex wasn't in any of them. It was possible that the instructor didn't like to showcase her relationship with Alex. "I'm curious Ms. Wright, how come Alex isn't in any of your pictures?" Ms. Wright turned her gaze from Korsak to Jane. She looked at the detective quizzically. It was like she already expected Jane to have the answer.

"Of course she isn't. Why would she be?"

It was hard to tell who was more confused. The detectives or Ms. Wright. They all just stared at each other for a minute.

"We were under the impression you two were dating," Jane said slowly.

"I see." Marian sunk farther back into her chair. Her fingers drummed against the desk is a constant rhythm as she thought. "I'm afraid you've misunderstood our relationship detectives."

"Our apologies," Jane said. "Could you tell us what the nature of your relationship is?"

Marian glanced at the door. Her body language told Jane that whatever her relationship with Alex was it wasn't something she went around openly speaking about.

Once Marian was sure no one was about to barge into her office she allowed herself to relax slightly. Whatever Alex had said to the detectives that brought them to Marian she had apparently left out what they actually were to each other.

"I met Alex not long after she moved here at some bar, I can't remember which, she had bought me a drink and we started talking," Marian recalled. Her gaze far away as she focused on the night she'd met Alex "I'm normally not the kind of person that takes strangers home from bars but that night I did. You see detectives I had just gotten out of a relationship and wasn't looking for anything serious. Alex wasn't either but she also wasn't looking for someone she'd have sex with once and never see again."

Jane gave the woman a skeptical look. She'd gotten an idea about Alex's habits during the investigation. She was under the impression that Alex preferred one and done over anything else. Marian seemed to notice the way Jane was looking at her.

"I don't expect you to understand detective, not many people would, that's why I'm not public about it. We have an understanding that there's no commitment and no expectations. All it is between us is-"

"Sex," Jane finished.

"Exactly. Although Alex and I do go out sometimes we're nothing more than friends, if we're even that. In fact, I see other women from time to time as does Alex."

"Do these other women know about the arrangement?" Korsak asked.

"I always disclose to any prospective partner. Most are fine with it," Marian paused. "As for Alex I know she won't take anyone home with her unless they understand she's not looking for something serious."

"Do you know of anyone who might have gotten jealous?"

"We don't really discuss the other women we see."

"Have you ever known Alex to get violent?" Jane would want to look into Alex's other partners later. She wanted to learn what she could from Ms. Wright while she had the chance.

"Never around me." It was the truth. Alex could get angry but she was always in control of her actions. "She would never hurt anyone unless her life was in immediate danger. Alex isn't a bad person detectives. She may not make the best choices and she may step on the wrong feet but you can't fault her for being human."

"We appreciate you taking the time to speak with us Ms. Wright." Jane rose and extended her hand towards Marian. "We'll let you know if we have any more questions for you."

Marian took the hand Detective Rizzoli offered to her then she did the same with Detective Korsak. "Of course. And I would appreciate it if you would keep what I told you about Alex and I quiet."

Jane nodded: "Of course."

XXXXX

"I might just be getting old but hat exactly did that meeting accomplish?" Korsak asked as they made their way back to the car.

"You are getting old," Jane teased. "We learned that Alex does in fact have a violent side and that she's sleeping with multiple women. And you know how jealous women get."

"So one of Alex's partners could have been the killer?"

"Bingo. We just need to get their names. And we can rule out anyone under 5'7" to be safe."

"And what about Alex?"

"We get our warrant for her DNA and go from there. If it isn't a match at least we'll have someone else to look at."

"It's a start."

"I'll have Frankie get access to Alex's phone records, hopefully they'll help identify the other woman she's seeing."

Jane slid into the passenger seat with a slight grin on her face. Anyone listening to the conversation they had just had with Marian Wright would assume it yielded little information. Even Korsak hadn't been able to see what they had found out through the talk. On the surface they really hadn't learned much, although Jane had a good reason to dislike Alex now. _Her choice not yours. Stop being so judgmental._ She sighed. This talking to herself, even in her head, was getting real tiresome. On the other end Jane had learned something about Alex. And if Alex proved to be innocent Jane figured she could use it to her advantage.

She would never admit it out loud, but Jane did wish Alex was guilty of the murder. But there was also a part of her that knew how wrong it was to think that. Innocent until proven guilty. That was how things were. She'd already gotten ahead of herself at the beginning of the case and that had gotten them nowhere. Now that she had taken a step back and was willing to look at the other possibilities things were starting to fall into place.

XXXXX

Maura hadn't seen Jane at all that day. She sat alone in her office with her laptop in front of her. All the paperwork that had stacked itself up on her desk was now gone. It wasn't often she was able to get so much work done. Usually Jane would come down and find a way to distract her from her work.

Not that it took much for Maura to get distracted by Jane's presence. Whenever Jane entered a room she commanded the attention of others. Maura doubted that her friend was aware of the effect she had on people. Jane was so many different things; caring, strong, protective, confident. All of those things made Jane who she was. They were also the reason Maura found herself attracted to the woman.

She had never been one to hide her attraction towards a person. She felt no shame in her interest of women. It had been years since Maura had last been in a relationship with a woman. Recently her lovers had all consisted of men. Because of that Maura had never mentioned her bisexuality to her colleagues. It had never come up and no one had ever asked. They few times the subject had come up with Jane, Maura had been vague about her experience on the subject but had never once denied it.

What she did do was try and get over the fact that she had feelings for her best friend she knew would not be reciprocated. Maura had picked up over the years that Jane was very uncomfortable talking about her own sexuality. She wasn't sure why Jane was so averse to talking about it, but she tried to avoid it as much as possible. From what she knew about Jane's previous partners they had only ever been men. Jane was straight, the only interest she had for Maura was that of friends.

Maura had believed that up until the night at the batting cages with Jane. She had gone there with the express goal of giving the information she had found to the detective. The last thing Maura had expected was Jane dragging her into the cage to give her some tips. Having Jane pressed up against her brought up ideas that Maura had only ever fantasized about. She could have sworn Jane had felt the same thing she had.

Of course when she had been about to ask Jane about it the owner had interrupted. After that Maura couldn't bring herself to ask the only question she really wanted the answer too. As soon as Jane had stepped away from her it was as if a fog had lifted and Maura could think clearly again. _If only she had any idea what she did to me…_

"Dr. Isles sorry to bother you but I have something I'd like you to take a look at." Kent's accent was unmistakable.

"Does it have anything to do with the Harper case?" Maura asked as she pushed herself out of her chair.

"No it's from another one of your cases."

"Which one?"

"Benjamin Wakefield?"

Wakefield had been overflow from a car accident that fell outside of her jurisdiction. One of the other Medical Examiners had asked her to take a look at him if she wasn't too busy.

"Alright, let's see what you have."

XXXXX

Back before her assault Alex had enjoyed going out to meet with friends and her then girlfriend Dana. She had been a very social person even though her list of friends was small. After her life had started to fall apart Grace and Cody had been the only ones who really stayed in touch with her. Alex hardly ever went out unless it was to barhop with Grace, meet up with Marian at some lesbian bar to get drunk and dance for a few hours, or take Blue out for a walk. The latter being what she was doing at that moment.

Blue padded along obediently at Alex's side, his tail wagging and tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. The route Alex had decided to take had her passing Cody and Grace's house. She had wanted to give Cody space but after a week she had started to get worried. Alex didn't know if she would be able to handle knocking on his door to check on him so she settled for just passing by.

"What do you think buddy?"

Blue looked up at his owner like he understood what she was asking. Alex knew he couldn't respond but after years together she found it easy to ask him things. He was a dog after all.

Alex surveyed the front lawn outside of Cody's home from across the street. His car was in the driveway and everything looked fine. Alex sighed. She wished she had some kind of excuse to cross the street and see if Cody was home. Unfortunately, she didn't think 'I've been worried about you since you haven't reached out to me to let me know how you were holding up. Since y'know I left your fiancée alone and now she's dead'.

It was probably just best for Alex to leave without talking to Cody. He would come to her when he was ready.

Alex had just started to move again when she heard someone call her name. She turned to see Cody on his front porch, staring her down. Unsure of what to do Alex just stood where she was. Cody started to move towards her. Each step forward was slow and exaggerated. To Alex her friend looked horrible. Cody looked like he hadn't bothered to shave since the last time they saw each other. He looked worn out, defeated like a man that had lost everything that mattered to him. Which he had.

"Hey Cody, I was getting worried about you."

"Shut up."

"Cody hey easy." Alex stepped back as Cody continued to advance at her. Suddenly he didn't look so worn out. Now all Alex could see was rage. She just hoped Blue wouldn't lunge at Cody while trying to protect her. "Hey knock it off Cody."

"I said shut up Alex!"

Cody shoved Alex back causing her to lose her balance and her grip on Blue's leash. Alex didn't know what to do. Cody was coming at her and he didn't look like he was going to stop. If he tried to hit her, Alex would have to fight back. But for now all she did was whistle at Blue. The low pitch she had trained Blue to recognize as heel. Blue didn't come at Cody but he did growl.

"You've got some nerve showing up here."

"Cody you're my friend I was worried about you!" Alex shouted.

"This is your fault! She's dead because of you!"

Alex was a fighter. She had trained rigorously to be able to protect herself and fight off an attacker if she needed to. She could hold her own against men and women in the ring. She was skilled with her MMA fighting. She was no professional but if someone came at her who wasn't trained she could take them down without a second thought.

Alex was also extremely good at reading her opponents next move. But this time when boney knuckles connected with her jaw she hadn't expected it. She stumbled back in complete shock. Everything she had learned about self-defense was suddenly gone. Cody was the last person Alex would have ever expected to come at her.

"Cody please I don't want to hurt you."

She could only hope that she didn't have too.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the delay in updating I had finals and then was in Florida for a couple days getting my Open Water Dive Certification. I'm back home now for the summer so hopefully I'll have plenty of time to work on this story. Anyway I hope you like this chapter. Things between Maura and Jane will begin to really pick up here within the next couple chapters so hang in there. So thanks for reading and staying with me, please review and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 7

Jane looked up from her phone just as two squad cars raced pass her unmarked heading in the opposite direction. Korsak and Jane turned their heads to watch the two vehicles speed down the road.

"What do you think that's about?" Korsak asked.

"Turn on the radio and we might find out." Jane glanced back, she was still able to make out the two squad cars. "Let's go check it out. You never know when you can use more back up."

Korsak didn't hesitate. He flipped the lights on but not the sirens. Once he was sure he wouldn't hit anyone he hit the gas and popped a U-turn. He headed in the general direction of the squad cars. _Sometimes I miss being a beat cop._

XXXXX

"Cody! Cody stop!" Alex was begging for him to stop. The more he came at her the harder it was for Alex to keep from fighting back. Cody was her friend and he was hurting badly. Alex wasn't delusional, she knew perfectly well that Cody knew what he was doing. She just wanted to give him a chance to back off.

"You did this!" he screamed. His grip on Alex's shirt tightened as he pulled her closer to him. "You're the reason she's dead! Why did you kill her?!"

Cody pulled back his fist, ready to land another blow on the person he had considered his friend for so long. Alex brought her hands up to push against the arm Cody used to hold her in place. She didn't fight back or try to defend herself. A growl to their right caused Cody to pause.

Even with the looming threat of Cody's fist not far from her face Alex shouted at Blue: "Blue no! Stay there!" If Blue attacked Cody, even if he was just trying to protect her from getting hurt, he would be put down. She wasn't about to lose Blue. So she could only hope that he would listen.

A split second later Cody's fist connect with her jaw. Pain radiated through her face. It was so intense her vision blurred and she stumbled back away from her aggressor. But Cody didn't stop, he followed her not giving her any time to recover before punching her in the stomach. All the air in Alex's lungs was suddenly gone. Her arms shot up, wrapping tightly around her waist as he legs buckled beneath her. She fell to her knees, gasping for air to fill her burning lungs.

"Cody… I'm sorry." Tears began to spill as Alex struggled to recover. Nothing seemed to be stopping Cody's assault on her. Alex could feel all of his rage being directed towards her. Fear finally began to creep up on her, sending a chill up her spin. She hadn't felt fear like this since she had been in New York. This was different. She knew how to fight. She knew how to defend herself. So why hadn't she even raised her hands to defend herself?

The answer was simple. Cody had been her closest friend since college. Alex would never hurt one of her friends, no matter what they did to her. Cody truly believed that Alex had killed Gracie. Maybe, just maybe, if Alex kept her hands down he would see that she would never raise a hand to someone she cared about.

But to be honest, Alex didn't fight back because she blamed herself for Gracie's death too.

"Stand up!" Cody barked.

Alex flinched at the harshness of Cody's voice. She didn't do as he ordered. Instead she stayed on the group trying to catch her breath.

"I said stand up!" he shouted again. This time her grabbed Alex's shoulders and gave her no choice as he hauled her to her feet.

"Cody please…you've gotta know I didn't kill Gracie. I'm sorry she's gone but it wasn't me…" her words were hardly above a whisper. She was done. She couldn't fight it.

"Sorry won't bring her back!" he snarled. "Sorry won't change the fact that you're a murderer!"

That had done it. Alex felt the strength that had left her return along with a burning rage. Gracie was dead because of her, that was true, but she hadn't killed her.

Cody hit her again. This time Alex felt her nose break. Her hands shot up to cover her face. Blood oozed through her fingers as she stared at Cody in disbelief. And suddenly it wasn't Cody standing in front of her anymore. Instead Alex saw the man who had attacked her in New York. They weren't friends. Cody didn't care if he hurt Alex and Alex no longer cared if she hurt Cody.

When he swung at her again she was ready. She caught his fist in her hand and twisted, refusing to let go. Cody screamed in rage and swung at her with his free hand. Again Alex caught his hand in hers. They stood in a deadlock. All Alex had to do was twist his arm a little farther and it would snap.

She didn't get the chance.

Two police cruisers pulled up with their lights flashing. One of Cody's neighbors must have called the cops. Alex was actually relieved to see the officers as the jumped out of their cars to break up the fight.

They weren't fast enough. Cody shoved Alex away and went for another punch. Alex slammed her eyes shut and braced herself for the next blow.

It never came. When Alex opened her eyes she saw two of the officers dragging Cody away from her. He was fighting them and screaming at Alex. She stumbled back suddenly needing to have Blue's leash in her hands. She hadn't even noticed the black unmarked car that had pulled up behind the cruisers.

XXXXX

Jane leaned against the hood of one of the cruisers watching as one of the EMT's tended to Alex. Korsak was over with two uni's trying to get a statement from Cody, who was being less than cooperative. It wasn't hard to figure out he was so angry about since he kept shouting that Alex was a murderer. To the woman's defense she was ignoring him as much as possible. Even as the EMT reset her nose Alex stayed as quiet as she could.

One of the officers had tried to take her statement before the bus got their but Alex had refused to speak. It could have just been because of her jaw which was now swollen and starting to bruise. Jane had elected to try for a statement after the medic was done with Alex. Jane doubted Alex had even noticed her waiting as the woman was transfixed by the blonde examining her.

"Alright Alexis there doesn't appear to be any extensive damage but I would still recommend you go to the hospital to be properly examined." Jane overheard the blonde say.

"I'll be fine. I've gotten worse in the ring."

"You'll need to take it easy for two to three weeks while your nose heals. The swelling should go away within the next week," the blonde paused to tilt Alex's head to get a better look at the cut on her jaw. "As for this you could have a fracture but I've taken care of the cut."

"Thanks," Alex tried to smile but winced. "Can I ask you something?"

"I'm married." The blonde held up her hand as she went about looking at something on a clipboard.

"Wasn't going to ask that but congratulations," Alex said. "You just look familiar have we met?"

"You said you were a boxer?" the blonde asked.

"Yeah Baker's Gym, the owner is a good friend and my trainer. And I usually have a go at amateur night if I can risk showing up sore for work."

"Then we probably have met. My partner and I have taken a few assignments working as the emergency care for fight night."

The two were focused enough on the conversation that they didn't notice Jane join them until the dog at Alex's feet took interest in the detective. "Excuse me but I need to take Ms. Eldsfield's statement if you're finished." The blonde EMT nodded and took her leave.

Alex watched Jane with slight trepidation, unsure what to expect from the detective after their last meeting. Jane hoped it wouldn't turn into a shouting match between them. She just wanted to get the statement and leave.

"Don't you usually show up when there's a dead body?" Alex growled.

"We were in the area and thought we could assist the other officers, is this going to be a problem?" Jane asked.

"Not unless you make it one."

"Why don't you tell me your version of things."

Alex looked away from Jane as she gave her account of what had happened. She'd been out on a walk with Blue and when she was passing Cody's home he'd stopped her and attacked her. Jane listened like she would with any other person, nodding every so often as she took notes. She didn't say anything while Alex spoke. She had an opinion of what had gone down but as she listened to Alex she was more inclined to believe what was being told to her.

When Alex finally finished speaking she looked up at Jane expectantly. For a moment Jane could speak. Jane saw fear in the gray eyes staring at her for the first time. "Are you going to want to press charges?" Alex stole a glance towards the squad car that her longtime friend now sat in. She then dropped her gaze to stare at her hands which still had the blood from her nose coating them.

"Yeah I want to press charges…" she said with some reluctance.

"I'll make sure they get the paperwork started then," Jane said.

"Detective?"

"Yes?"

"Do you still think I killed her?"

That was a loaded question. One that Jane hadn't expected. "You're still a suspect until we rule you out, which we can't do without a DNA sample." Alex nodded seemingly satisfied by the answer.

"Do you have a swab on you?"

"What?"

"A swab. Do you have one?"

Jane reached into her blazer knowing she had a couple in the pocket. She produced the swab and handed it to Alex. What Alex did with it stunned the detective. Very calmly Alex popped of the protective cover from the swab. She opened her mouth as wide as she could without causing herself any pain. Then she swabbed the inside of her cheek thoroughly before removing the swab and covering it with the plastic cap. She held it out for Jane to take.

The detective didn't immediately register what Alex wanted her to do with it. She just stood their eyes moving from the swab to Alex and then back to the swab.

"Take it." When Jane still didn't take the swab Alex pushed it into the detective's hand. "You wanted my DNA and now I'm giving it to you. So take it."

"Why all of a sudden?"

"I'm tired Detective. Just take it, run it and clear me," Alex sighed. "Now please just let me go and then leave me alone."

"You know we can't do that. Even if you are innocent you're the last person to see Grace alive."

"You don't get it do you? Do you realize how much damage you've done? My best friend thinks I murdered his fiancée, my face was just used as a punching bag and you've made my neighbors paranoid. Because of you I'm starting to lose everything I've worked so hard to build."

Alex pushed herself out of the back of the bus. Jane watched her trying to get a read on what the woman was feeling. Had it really been her fault? Jane had just been doing her job. She had never intended for anyone to get hurt. If she was right about Alex being the killer, then her focus on Alex as a suspect was perfectly acceptable. But it Alex was innocent… _If she's innocent, you really fucked up._

Not helping. _Not trying too._

"Alex you didn't deserve this and I'm sorry it happened but all I've done is my job. I didn't have anything to do with this."

"Go fuck yourself Detective. All you had to do was listen and you refused to." It was clear that Alex was done listening. "I'm not going to put up with your bullying so leave me alone."

Jane let her go. Alex was angry and Jane didn't want to risk setting her off. She would let the responding officers handle the assault charges. She needed to get back to Maura and give her the DNA sample from Alex. This wasn't how she had hoped the day would go. She was glad to have the sample without having to get a warrant.

Korsak came up behind Jane and followed her gaze both watching Alex as she walked away. Normally people weren't allowed to just walk off but again Jane didn't want to cause another incident.

"I take it that didn't go very well," Korsak observed.

Jane held up the swab for him to see. "Well enough. Let's get to the lab so Maura can run this." Korsak nodded and moved towards the car. Before Jane followed she went over to one of the uniformed officers and relayed what she had gotten from Alex. He said he would handle it and that was that.

XXXXX

Maura looked up from her book when an evidence bag was held in front of the page she was reading. She wasn't surprised to see that is was Jane holding the item in front of her. Maura shut her book and set it aside giving Jane her full attention.

"Every now and then it's nice to get a 'hello' or 'are you busy' when you come into my office," Maura said.

"Are you busy?" Jane asked.

"It works better if you start with that," Maura sighed. "No I'm not busy. What can I do for you?"

Jane held out the evidence bag again. Maura took it from her, turning it over in her hands. "I need you to run that for me."

Maura rose from her seat behind her desk. She understood that Jane was asking her to run DNA but she wasn't sure whose it was or where Jane got it. Jane followed closely behind her. Sometimes the detective could be just as bad Kent when it came to personal space. Maura had never minded when Jane hovered over her. Right now however, Jane was inches away from getting an elbow in her stomach.

"Jane do I need to go over personal space with you as well?"

Jane wasn't listening to her. Or at least she didn't appear to be listening to her. Maura realized it would be pointless to try to get Jane's attention. Ignoring her friends hovering, Maura unsealed the evidence bag and removed the contents. The way Jane stood told Maura all she needed to know. Jane wanted the sample run and she wanted it done immediately.

"What am I running this against?"

"I thought I already told you."

"No you didn't." Maura set the down the bottle she had her hand so she could feel Jane's forehead. "Are you feeling alright?"

Jane pushed her hand away. "I'm fine I just thought I had told you." She leaned against the counter, resting her elbow on the cold steel to support her weight. "Run it against the DNA you found on Grace Harper." Jane could see Maura's confusion plain as day. She knew the ME hated it when she wasn't clear with her requests.

"I'd appreciate it if you told me who this sample belonged to."

"Alexis Eldsfield."

Maura stopped her progress in preparing the sample. "You got the warrant?" Maura knew her and Korsak had still been struggling with the warrant. It was a surprise to say the least.

"Voluntary."

"You didn't threaten her did you?"

"Korsak and I were headed back when a patrol car flew past us. We were available so we followed. Turns out Cody Stanton, Ms. Harpers fiancé, had gotten into an altercation with Alexis Eldsfield."

"Is he alright?"

"Yeah he's fine. Alex on the other hand? Broken nose and a nasty bruise on her jaw."

"And the sample?"

"She just handed it over after I took her statement."

Maura could tell there was more to it that Jane wasn't telling her. Jane had been working relentlessly to prove that Alex was in fact their killer. But now that Jane had the DNA she needed so confirm her theory she was surprisingly unenthusiastic. Maura wasn't going to push her friend. Whatever was bothering Jane would eventually come to light. So the doctor continued to work the sample while Jane stood out of the way and let her do her job.

It wasn't long before the sample of Alexis Eldsfield's DNA was ready to run against that found on Grace Harper's body. Maura started the analysis before going to stand by Jane, who had chosen to stay as far away from the computer as possible.

Jane had started to bite the nail of her thumb. It was a response she had to stress and her biggest tell. She wanted the results. Finding the killer was her job sometimes they followed the wrong leads and the wrong people were brought in as suspects. Most of the time the innocent people they first suspected would walk away with nothing more than wounded pride. A few times it had ended marriages. Fewer times had it lead to the wrong person being incarcerated.

If Jane had been wrong this time she was responsible for the fallout that followed. Cody Stanton had assaulted Alexis Eldsfield because he believed with every fiber of his being that Alex was a murderer. Jane was at fault for putting that thought into his head. She wasn't even sure how he had found out that they were looking at Alex for the murder. They had never mentioned it to him either of the times they had spoken with him.

She wanted the results to come back with a positive match. She needed it to come back a positive match. At least if Alex was guilty of murder Jane wouldn't feel as bad about her getting knocked into her place. Not that anyone deserved to be attacked with little or no provocation. Or any for that matter. But if it came back negative. God if it came back negative the damn Jane was trying to keep from breaking would burst. She was supposed to protect people not get them hurt. _I just don't want to have to admit I might have made a mistake…_

"Jane are you sure you're alright?"

Jane sighed: "No I'm not sure. Damnit…I don't know what it is about this case but it's getting to me. What if I screwed up Maura?"

"You didn't ask Mr. Stanton to attack Alexis did you?"

"No of course not," Jane said defensively. "Why would you even ask that?"

"You've been doing your job. There was no way you could have known that Mr. Stanton would assault her." Maura placed her hands on Jane's shoulders, forcing the detective to look at her. "You're a good detective, you've done everything right don't let self-doubt tell you otherwise."

"Did I go too far?"

"Jane you didn't attack her. All you did was follow your gut, which I may not agree with, but you're hardly ever wrong."

The computer chimed alerting the two that it was finished analyzing the sample. Jane let out a shaky breath as she pulled away from Maura's hold. The doctor let her go knowing that as soon as Jane saw the results she would know too. She didn't need to look. Not right at that moment.

Jane tried not to let her dismay show when she saw the flashing red words on the computer screen. She found it was harder to keep her legs from giving out from under her. Alex was right, she hadn't listened, she had refused to give her the benefit of doubt. Innocent until proven guilty. Trial by jury not by cop. She had made mistakes before. Hell she had been in situations a lot worse than this. But right now her actions during the course of the case were the only mistake she could think about. Two weeks they had been focusing on the wrong person.

"I was wrong this time." Jane shook her head at the monitor. "Take a look for yourself DNA doesn't match."

XXXXX

Maura watched from the doorway of the guest bedroom as Jane spread out crime scene photos and notes on the bed. She often saw the detective deep in thought when it came to a case that had no clear reasoning. There were small things Jane did when she took a different look at what she had in front of her. The way she would chew on her thumb. Or the way she would mumble to herself about one thing or another. Maura loved those things about Jane.

"You've been standing there for a while." Jane picked up another image before glancing at Maura. "I thought you would have gone to bed by now."

"While you exhausted yourself looking for something you missed?" Maura asked.

"There has to be something here. I know that there is something here," Jane dropped the image so she could rub her eyes, "I just have to find it."

"You've been staring at those for hours Jane," Maura closed the gap between her and the detective, "if you haven't found it yet you aren't going to find it tonight. Why don't you take a break for the night so you can look at it with fresh eyes in the morning?"

Jane shook her head. She wanted to listen to Maura but she couldn't. The longer it took her to find something of use the longer Grace Harper's killer walked free. "I can't. We've wasted enough time going after Eldsfield."

Maura knew there wasn't much of a point in arguing with Jane when she was like this. When she started holding herself personally responsible for everything that happened during a case she didn't stop until she closed it. It was another thing that Maura admired in her friend. It also worried her. Jane hardly stopped to consider her personal health when working a hard case. Sometimes she needed a little persuading.

Doing her best to not disturb the papers Jane had laid out, Maura climbed into the bed behind her friend so she was perched on the pillows. Maura knew the best way to get Jane to quit for the night was to remind her it wasn't all on her. "Jane you're exhausted; you really need to rest. It won't do anyone any good if you wear yourself down."

Jane sighed as she let herself lean back into Maura. She was grateful that Maura would continue to push her to rest even if Jane fought her for another hour. Jane didn't have it in her any longer to argue. She was drained of all her energy and even though she wanted to keep working she wasn't capable of it.

"I know," she said with a yawn, "you're right… What good would it do to work when deprived of sleep?"

"Exactly," Maura agreed.

"Would you stay with me tonight?"

"If you want me too."

"Well that kinda is why I asked."

"You don't have to ask Jane."

Jane shook her head. Maybe she didn't have to ask. Maura had stayed with her when she was having nightmares about Hoyt. They'd even fallen asleep on Jane's bed one time, although Jane couldn't remember what they had been doing. Something about this time was different. She felt obligated to make sure Maura was alright with it.

Maura sensed the hesitation in her friend. She could feel just how tense the detective's body was against her. After years of working with the woman sitting with her, Maura had discovered that Jane often took herself too seriously. She wanted so badly to wrap her arms around the brunette and tell her it would be alright. Instead Maura kept her hands by her sides. Actions often did what words couldn't. But right now Jane needed words. Whether they be Maura's or her own. "What's really bothering you?"

"Images of the killer that match Eldsfield's profile, an unsubstantiated alibi, a suspect who could easily be guilty, who I fully believed was guilty, and DNA that says otherwise." Jane closed her eyes, resting her head on Maura's shoulder. "What could I have done differently? What was it about Eldsfield that made me so damn certain she was the murderer?"

"There have been cases like this before Jane."

"Ms. Harpers fiancé assaulted Alexis because I was so determined to prove she wasn't innocent. No one deserves that. Not even someone like Alex."

Strong arms wrapped around Jane's waist, pulling her closer to the blonde behind her. "Do not blame yourself for someone else's actions Jane Rizzoli. Stanton and Eldsfield may fault you for what has happened between them but you cannot take responsibility for something that was out of your control." Maura spoke firmly into Jane's ear, wanting the detective to understand what she was trying to get across. Jane was surprised by Maura's tone, but also grateful. It wouldn't change how she felt, nothing but solving the case would do that, but it would make it easier for her to sleep.

For the first time that night she realized just how tired she really was. She could have fallen asleep with Maura's arms wrapped around her if it weren't for the knee digging into her back.

"Can we go to bed now?" Jane yawned.

"Sure."

The warm body behind her was suddenly gone, leaving Jane disappointed. Her eyes opened to see Maura moving the files from the bed to the dresser. It was only a few minutes before Maura climbed back into the bed next to her. _Thank you…_ jane crawled underneath the covers before reaching over to shut off the light. Darkness fell over them. And as much as Jane wanted to stay awake the second her head met the pillow she was asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay first off I am so sorry for the long wait. I wanted to get this up yesterday before I went to a Jimmy Buffett concert but that didn't happen. I've been horrible about updating. But I have most of the next chapter ready to be typed so hopefully it'll only be a week before I update. You can always follow me on my Tumblr (same username as here) so you can get updates on where I'm at.**

 **In any case things are starting to come to a head not just in the investigation but with Maura and Jane, as well as Alex. Please note there are some mature situations between two women in this chapter. So read at your own risk. Thank you for staying with me, let me know what you think! And, as always, enjoy.**

Chapter 8

The first thing Maura noticed when she woke in the morning was that she couldn't move. She wasn't sore or stiff. Another body in her bed was keeping her from rolling onto her back. She searched her memory of the past night trying to remember who was with her. And why they were in the same bed. Had they fallen asleep in the guest room? They must have because the room was bare of any of Maura's personal items. It would also explain her stiff neck. She really needed to replace the pillows in the guest room if she were to ever end up sleeping in there again.

Which brought back the question; who had their arm wrapped around her? Last night… it finally clicked through her morning haze. Jane was next to her. She had requested Maura stay with her the night before. The detective must have had a nightmare of some sort since she normally wasn't much of a cuddler. Maura remembered when Jane had shown up at her door one night unable to sleep because of her reoccurring nightmares of Charles Hoyt. They had fallen asleep in the guest bedroom that night and at one point Maura had been woken up by Jane. The detective had the doctor pulled close to her. It had been one of the worst nightmares Jane had had.

"Jane?"

Beside her Jane mumbled something unintelligible before burying her face further into Maura's back.

Maura really wanted to get up so she would have enough time to shower before they left for work. Knowing Jane however, she knew even if she tried to pry the detective's arm from around her waist it would be to no avail.

So Maura instead tried again. "Jane as much as I know you love cuddling I would love to get up and take a shower."

There was an instant reaction from Jane. The detective pulled away from Maura, taking all the heat with her, before she sat up in the bed. "Sorry..." she mumbled. Maura watched Jane as she slowly tried to put some distance between herself and the medical examiner.

Again Maura picked up that there was something wrong. It hadn't just been at the lab. Since Jane's run in with Alex something had been off about the detective. She had started to distance herself not just physically but also emotionally from Maura. It was really starting to worry Maura. But as much as she wanted to ask she knew that she would never get a straight answer. She had no choice but to wait for Jane to come to her.

"I'll go make some coffee while you shower." The brunette said rising to her feet. "Again sorry about that… Must had been a bad dream or something." It was a lie, a bad one at that, and Jane knew it. She wouldn't have made it such a big deal if she hadn't been having so much trouble lately. Maura had her undivided attention even if the doctor hadn't noticed it. _It's wrong… she's your best friend for God's sake._

"Jane?" The detective glanced over her shoulder at Maura, giving her a questioning look. The blonde had a serious look on her face that told Jane she knew something was up. "You know you can talk to me about anything right?"

Jane let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She offered Maura a smile of appreciation. "I know. But I'm alright. We should worry more about the case then some meaningless dream."

"No nightmare is meaningless."

"It is when it doesn't matter anymore."

"You shouldn't keep things bottled up," Maura said, "it isn't good for your health."

"You're the first person I'll go to if I need to talk don't worry." Jane grinned at her friend as she started towards the kitchen. "Now go. You woke me up do you could shower."

XXXXX

The coffee tasted like shit. Almost to the point that Jane considered pouring the rest of it down the drain. After all there was no chance that Maura would drink instant coffee unless she suffered a serious head injury. At least the horrible tasting brew kept her mind off of the dream she had had about a certain medical examiner.

They were starting to become more frequent. She would wake up in the middle of the night breathing heavily in a cold sweat, feeling almost pain and in need of a release. She had handled it as well as she could but it hadn't been enough to fully take away the ache. This morning only made the ache worse. She could do nothing to dull it until she went home at the end of the day.

It would have been so easy to just tell the blonde how she felt. Hell even just acting on her desires seemed simple in thought. But in practice? Jane shook her head. She wanted Maura. She would have done anything for the woman. So why couldn't she just bite the bullet and act for herself for once?

Jane knew the answer. If Maura had interest in her she would have made it clear by now. The doctor wasn't shy about sex or her experiences. Making it clear to Jane that if the doctor had any inkling for lesbian acts she would have said so.

Still Jane could have just asked. Of course she never would. Unlike Maura Jane was very closed mouthed about sex. She was no stickler and she sure as hell wasn't a good Catholic. She simply didn't like talking about sex.

"I hope that isn't that instant coffee that keeps finding its way into my pantry."

Maura stood opposite of Jane having finished with her hour-long morning routine. Jane was surprised- and somewhat thankful- that Maura had decided to wear slacks instead of a skirt. she had, however, donned a blouse that accentuated the doctor's muscular arms and left little to the imagination in regard to her breasts.

"I, uh." Jane stumbled as she stared at her friend.

"Jane?"

"What?"

"Is that instant?"

"Right. Yeah. Sorry. We can stop at the coffee shop before we head to the precinct."

Maura cocked her head at Jane but didn't question her. "Alright," she said. "We should probably get going then."

Jane nodded, grabbing her blazer and starting towards the door, not bothering to poor the coffee out or even finish hers. She just wanted to get to work so she could have something to distract her from Maura.

XXXXX

Another glass bottle clanked to the growing can of discarded drinks. Alex shook her head trying to get rid of the haze that had settled over her. All of her beer was gone. She had just polished off the last bottle. Blue sat, not too far away, watching his owner as she slowly drowned herself in alcohol. He didn't whimper or make a noise. He just watched knowing something was wrong. His master was hurting and he couldn't do a thing.

 _You're a murderer._

 _We believe that hooded person is you._

 _She's dead because of you._

Alex screamed. She lost it. She slammed her fist into the wall. That pain the action caused radiated throughout her body but she didn't stop. She hit the wall again and again until her knuckles were bloody. Tears flowed freely for the first time since Gracie turned up murdered.

She sobbed loudly as she slid to the floor, holding her injured hand close to her chest. It hurt. Everything hurt. She'd lost the only friends she had managed to keep over the years. She needed another drink. She needed the pain to go away. All Alex wanted was to be numb.

Blue came over to her. His head low and tail unmoving. He sat down as closely as he could to Alex, resting his head on her knee. It was a small comfort but it was all he could do. Alex put her arm around him holding him close. Once again he was all she had. Her dog and the bottle.

XXXXX

 _The blonde beneath her moaned as her mouth moved down the column of her best friend's throat. Her teeth grazed the soft skin leaving her mark before massaging the sting away with her tongue. The noises that escaped from the blondes lips only drove the detective on._

 _Jane slowly moved down to give attention to Maura's breasts. Teeth raked against hardened nipples as hands roamed farther down the doctors toned stomach._

" _Jane please." It came out as nothing more than a breathless whisper._

 _Jane shuddered moving back to capture Maura's lips. She needed Maura as much as Maura needed her. Slowly, almost torturously, Jane slid two fingers down until they met moist heat._

"Jane hey Nina has something for us," Korsak said.

Jane looked up at her partner, blinking away her haze. Had she really just been thinking…? At work? This needed to stop before it got out of hand. _Or any further out of hand._

"Nina has something?" Jane repeated.

"I managed to pull another still of the killer from the surveillance tapes, you still can't see their face but if you ask around you may be able to get an idea."

Jane hadn't noticed Nina standing near the murder board. The tech analyst handed Jane the printouts. The first was the same one they had used when talking to Alexis. The second image was of a person of similar height to the one in the original but the grainy image showed the person in a different colored hoodie. Jane examined the images a minute longer before looking up at Nina.

"I can't tell if this is the same guy or not," she said. "The hoodie in this one is orange, this one is gray. I mean I guess he could have ditched the other one…"

"Or it's a reversible hoodie," Nina suggested.

"Could be," Jane nodded, "but is there anything else that lead you to believe this was the same guy?"

"Actually, I sent the original image to a friend hoping he would be able to enhance it more than I could with the equipment I have available."

"And?"

"And I found that our killer has a tattoo on his left hand. I originally believed it to be a shadow but I figured it couldn't hurt to check it out. In any case I found the same tattoo on the man in the second image."

Jane looked at the images again and saw the 'shadow' Nina was talking about. "Do you have the enhanced image of the tattoo?"

"Yeah hang on." Nina moved across the room to BRIC returning a moment later holding the image.

The tattoo itself was hard to make out, it could have been a tribal tattoo or a country flag. Even so the enhancement did clearly show a tattoo one that both of the images had in common. It was enough for Jane to believe it was one in the same person. The image with the orange hoodie offered a clearer image of the suspect. Her was a white male, 5'9" with a short beard and a left hand tattoo. He appeared fit but Jane could see how she had mistaken him for Alex from the other image.

"You able to get a hit through facial recognition?" Jane asked, handing the images to Korsak.

"The most I've gotten was a sixty-four percent match without the hand tattoo," Nina explained.

"Maybe he's a fighter at Baker's Gym?" Jane suggested.

"You could always ask Eldsfield if she recognizes him," Korsak said.

"Ha sure maybe if I wanted a law suit thrown at me," Jane scoffed. "Let's just head back to the gym and see if anyone has a tattoo on their hand a guy this size shouldn't be too hard to find. He's pretty skinny."

"Lightweights can be pretty small," Nina added.

"Alright," Jane sighed rising from her chair. "Korsak you feel like making another trip to Baker's Gym?"

Korsak shrugged but stood, reaching for his blazer, giving Jane the impression he was up for it. Jane thanked Nina for giving them something to go on. She allowed Korsak to lead them to the elevator. Her mind was elsewhere. She couldn't think about anything besides Maura. How could she? Imaging Maura- her best friend- the way she was, was driving the detective to a breaking point. The urge to walk down to the morgue, shut the doors and blinds to Maura's office and taking the doctor right there on the floor was becoming a very possible course of action. That is, if Jane didn't get the urges under control.

"Janie you want to drive?"

Jane shook her head at Korsak realizing it was at least the second time he had asked the question. Driving was probably not the best activity for Jane to be doing at the moment. Especially if she started day-dreaming about pinning Maura's naked form against a wall and fucking her relentlessly.

"Maybe you should drive," she said finally.

"Hey what's bothering you?"

"What makes you think something is bothering me?" Jane asked sliding into the passenger seat.

"How long have we been working together Jane?" Korsak asked. "You think I can't tell when your mind isn't on a case? The last time you went after a suspect the way you did with Alex Eldsfield you had just shot Maura's father."

Jane sighed, there really wasn't any hiding from Korsak, but she really didn't want to explain what was bothering her. If she did she know it would bring up questions. like when the last time she had been with a woman. Jane was reluctant to admit she had been in a relationship through the majority of her Academy training. Korsak may have been her partner but there were somethings Jane just wasn't comfortable telling anyone.

"Yeah I know I haven't been myself," she admitted rubbing her eyes. "I really don't want to talk about it."

"I get it," Korsak nodded. "Just remember you can talk to me. We're partners aren't we?"

Jane chewed on her lip. Korsak had experience with relationships. He may not have had the greatest track record with marriages but he and Kiki were still going strong. And it wasn't like Jane wanted marriage advise. She just wanted someone to tell her to get her shit together and either get over the damned infatuation or grow a pair and tell Maura how she felt.

XXXXX

The first thing the detectives noticed as they entered Baker's Gym was a silence that hadn't been there before. Bill Baker was talking to a boxer. He appeared to be critiquing the man's stance and how he threw his left hook. Something about Bill seemed off, like his mind wasn't completely with the guy he was working with.

Bill had been fairly friendly towards the two when they had last been there to take Alex into questioning but when he saw the detectives this time he scowled towards them. He murmured something to the boxer before walking over to the detectives.

"You here to arrest another one of my boxers, detectives?" he asked angrily.

"We're here because we were hoping you could help us ID our suspect." Jane said doing he best to keep a level head. She understood why he was upset about them going after Alex. Jane would have been angry too, she was angry but that was because she had screwed up.

"Last I heard you were convinced Lex was your killer."

"DNA ruled her out," Jane said. "I apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused."

"Inconvenience? You realize she missed her match on Amateur Night and I had to explain she was somewhere with the BPD? That was her big chance to get sponsors."

"Ms. Eldsfield hasn't been with us since we took her in for questioning," Korsak said confusedly.

"Then were the hell is she I haven't heard from her for two days."

"Is that unusual?"

"Yes its unusual Alex always calls if she won't be in. I look after the poor kid she's got problems y'know? And she would never miss a fight it's what keeps her going."

"What kind of problems?" Jane asked.

"Drinking problems. Some things just set her off and she goes off the grid binging on whatever she can get her hands on."

"She does this often?"

"Only when her brother calls. How the hell that little bastard got her number I do not know."

Jane sighed, as much as it wasn't her responsibility to make sure Alexis wasn't off drinking herself to death she did feel responsible is Alex _was_ off the deep end. After all it was her fault that Cody went after Alex.

"If you want we can check on her when we get off work," Jane suggested almost begrudgingly.

Bill nodded but showed little interest towards the offer. It was clear he didn't care much for the detectives. Jane, wanting to get away from their current subject, pulled out the image Nina had given them. She handed it to Bill. "Does this man look familiar? Whoever it is has a tattoo on their left hand. Maybe a gym member?"

"Can't say I recognize him," Bill said with a shrug. "As for the tattoo a lot of my boxers have them. I've got four with ones on their left hands. But I can't really tell what this is so I can't tell you if he's one of mine."

"Could you give us the names of the four boxers with the tattoo on their hand?"

"James Garrett, Marco Rodriguez, Jennifer Nelson and Finn Johnson. None of them are here today though."

Korsak finished writing the last of the names down in his notepad. "We appreciate the help Mr. Baker, we'll want to talk to each one of them," he said. Bill glanced back over towards the boxer he had been working with when the detectives had arrived.

"Do what you have to. If that's all I need to get back to work."

The two detectives watched Bill walk away before they headed out of the gym. The four names Bill had given them were helpful, one could already be ruled out since they knew their killer was a man. Three people was a great start it was more than they had had since the beginning of the investigation. Of course there was the chance none of the three boxers were the killer. They would cross that road if they came to it. Right now they just had to focus on what they had.

XXXXX

"I figure we can just send a uni over to Alex's apartment to check up on her," Jane said walking up the stairs to BPD with Korsak. "We should probably check to see if she filed that restraining order."

"I'll get on that," Korsak said, holding the door open for Jane. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

"Why would I do that? We have suspects we need to bring in."

"Frankie can help." Korsak stopped so he could turn to face Jane. "I want your head in the right place. The last thing we need is you going off on another suspect. Go home, get some rest and we'll fill you in tomorrow."

Jane was about to protest when Korsak held up his hand. He wasn't going to budge on the matter. One way or another he was going to get her to go home. Jane let her shoulders slump in defeat. She didn't want to go home because she knew what would happen. She wanted to stay busy, keep her mind off of Maura. Dealing with Alex seemed a lot more inviting then sitting one her couch trying to watch TV while her mind wandered elsewhere.

"Fine I'll go home early. But if you find anything you call me."

"You'll be the first to know."

XXXXX

Jane tossed her keys on the counter and went to her fridge to grab a cold beer. There was plenty she could do to keep her mind occupied while she waited for Korsak to call. She was running out of shirts to wear and really needed to do laundry. She also needed food but didn't feel like leaving again.

"And I'm out of dishes… looks like I'm ordering in again."

In the empty apartment her voice seemed extremely loud. The silence that followed made everything seem much emptier. To fix this Jane went over to turn on the TV. She was happy to find a Sox game still being played. She unclipped her cell from her hip then set it on the coffee table. It felt strange sitting alone on the couch after spending so many nights over at Maura's.

The two of them had been spending more and more time together in recent months. Jane usually went over to Maura's after work and would stay late just to come back in the morning to pick Maura up for work. On rare occasions Maura would visit Jane at her home which usually lead to the doctor doing the dishes and picking up random things Jane had left sitting out.

Once she kicked off her shoes she propped them next to her phone on the table. She sunk as far back into the couch as she could. Her mind was already starting to drift towards Maura as the cold glass of her beer came in contact with her lips. Jane closed her eyes letting herself surrender to whatever fantasies or memories chose to surface.

The first surprised her. It was rare that Jane found herself thinking about Emily. It had been years since they had graduated the academy and gone their separate ways. Jane smiled to herself. They had been roommates; at least that was what they told people. Things had been a lot more serious than that. It had all started with one late night and way too much alcohol. After that they had maintained a relationship. That was, until, Jane got cold feet and ended the relationship. One thing they had agreed on was it wasn't the right time to be dealing with the relationship, not when it could affect their careers. Emily had been Jane's first and only girlfriend. Aside from Maura, Jane had never been interested in another woman.

' _Right place wrong time…'_

If that was what Emily was then what was Maura? Simply a wrong time? Or was Jane just making it 'the wrong time'? There was certainly something more than friendship between them. _So why hasn't Maura made the first move?_ There were dozens of possibilities why she hadn't. The most logical of those reasons being that Maura was just waiting for Jane to make a move. In which case they would be stuck the way they were for a long time. _Really what's stopping me from saying something? I won't lose my job. I might get rejected. Which would probably ruin our friendship…_ Jane finished off her beer and set it aside.

It wasn't long before she started to drift off. She fought it for a while but eventually sleep won over.

" _Well detective?" Maura asked straddling the detectives hips as her hand found its way into brunette locks. "See something you like?"_

 _Jane couldn't answer. Her mouth was dry and somehow she had forgotten how to use words. Maura had her in complete awe. She had hardly noticed Maura disappear into the other room until the doctor was leaning over her in nothing but black lace bra and panties. Jane met Maura's eye. They were dark with desire and need. Jane imagined Maura could see the same in her._

 _She felt hot breath on her ear and realized Maura was still expecting a reply. "I'm waiting Jane." Maura punctuated her words with her teeth grazing Jane's ear lobe. The detective let out a heavy breath as Maura continued her assault. Hot lips grazed over Jane's neck, then jaw. Maura stopped her lips mere centimeters from Jane's. If the detective wanted more she would have to ask for it._

 _Jane felt her heart begin to beat out of her chest as she searched Maura's eyes. She knew Maura was running the show. But what was it the doctor wanted? An answer? Swallowing hard, Jane nodded, hoping it would be enough to move things along. But after a few beats when Maura didn't move Jane understood she had to vocalize if she wanted anything to happen._

" _Yes," she said breathlessly._

" _Tell me what you want Jane," Maura whispered huskily. Her free hand began to run up and down Jane's side over the fabric of the t-shirt Jane wore. "I might even give it to you if you ask nicely."_

" _I want you to kiss me…Please Maur…" Jane was surprised by how needy she was just to have Maura's lips against hers._

 _There wasn't a moment of hesitation. Their lips connected._

 _Maura had control of the kiss. Her tongue ran over Jane's lower lip and was immediately granted entrance. Jane was unable to keep herself from sliding her hands under Maura's blouse. She pulled the doctor closer to her, deepening the kiss. Firm breasts pressed against Jane causing a moan to escape her. The kiss went on but soon they found themselves needing to break for air._

" _Sit back for me baby."_

 _At first Jane didn't move, unwilling to let Maura go, but eventually she relented. Maura moved away from Jane causing the brunette to whimper at the loss. But Maura positioned herself so she was kneeling between Jane's legs. She reacted up and unbuttoned Jane's slacks. Jane lifted her hips so Maura could remove her slacks and boy shorts without much trouble._

" _You're already so wet…"_

" _Maura…"_

" _Relax. Let me take care of you."_

Jane sprung up so fast from her position on the couch she nearly knocked over her coffee table. Her heart was racing. Maura… Maura going down on her… It was too much. Jane needed to get these dreams to stop. There was only one way she knew how.

Her clock told her it was just after five meaning Maura would be at home by now. Jane could make it over to Maura's in ten minutes. Hopefully in that time she wouldn't lose her nerve.

Grabbing her phone and her keys Jane headed out the door.


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm sorry if I've let any of you down with this long break I've had. Truth is right after chapter 8 was uploaded I was kicked out of my house after a fight. I was allowed back but the brief period I had to live with my dad was extremely hard on me. Next to that this chapter has caused me more trouble in writing. It may not be all that great and I am so sorry for that. I'm back at school now so chapters should pick up. Again I am so sorry.**

 **Please review tell me what you think, thank you by standing by me and being so patient and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 9

The glowing neon open sign continued to flicker as Jane sat there in her car debating where or not she should go in and get a drink. The bar wasn't very crowded yet and probably wouldn't be for a while. There wasn't much of a chance she would run into anybody she knew either. This wasn't one of her regular haunts. She just wanted to stay as far away from the Dirty Robber as possible. She'd lost her nerve on her way to Maura's. She hadn't really thought about where she was going which is how she ended up outside some random bar, unable to decide if she should go in.

In the end the need for a cold beer won over. The bar itself wasn't that large. A few booths along the wall, a few tables spaced out through the area and stools up against the bars. Jane surveyed the room. A group of college students sat at one booth at another were two business-like men. A couple patrons were scattered at different tables some eating some just drinking. There were two people occupying stools by the bar. One was an older gentleman who seemed to be engrossed in the newspaper her was reading. The other person at the bar had a hood over their head. Whoever it was didn't appear to be very interested in small talk with the bartender or like they would talk to anyone who sat near them. Jane decided to sit a couple of stools away from the hooded patron.

The bartender was a younger woman, most likely in college, with a warm smile. She came over to Jane; "what can I get you?"

"What do you recommend?" Jane asked taking a precursory glance at the tap.

"Depends on what you're looking for. You look like a beer person to me. Boston Lager maybe? Golden Monkey if you feel like getting trashed."

"I think I'll stick with the Lager. You have it on tap?"

"That we do. I'll have it right up."

Jane glanced over at the hooded patron again. She couldn't really see their face but when they took a sip of their beer Jane did see bruising on the person's face. Jane also noticed the persons knuckles were torn up and spotted with dry blood like they had punched a wall. Her attention was pulled away when the bartender set her beer down in front of her.

"Thanks."

She stared at the golden tinted beer for the longest time before actually taking a sip. That was when she felt eyes on her. Not the bartenders, but the hooded person next to her.

"Detective Rizzoli what the hell are you doing at this bar?"

 _Shit…_ Jane glanced over towards the woman. Out of all the bars in Boston she would end up in the same one as Alexis Eldsfield. She looked like hell, her nose was still bruised so was her jaw. Jane could tell Alex was extremely wasted. Her speech was slurred she didn't seem to be able to focus. Jane wondered just how long Alex had been drinking.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you were harassing me."

"Honestly you were the last person I thought I'd run into."

"Hey can I get another beer?" Alex directed the question to the bartender as she moved over a barstool so she was sitting right next to Jane. "And her next one is on me."

"Last one Alex," the bartender said handing Alex another bottle.

"You're cutting me off? C'mon now."

"You've had enough; you're done for tonight."

"Fine just put the detective on my tab."

Alex shrugged off Jane's confused look as she took a sip of her beer. Jane just watched her.

"What's with the sudden act of kindness Alex?"

"To drunk to care," Alex shrugged. "I get you don't like me. I'm not asking you to. But I damn well appreciate your dedication to finding Gracie's killer. Even if your dedication ruined my life."

For the first time Jane felt bad for the way she handled the woman. Alex had lost two friends in a short period of time. The murder obviously hit her hard but Cody assaulting her had been enough to push her over the edge. Sitting next to Alex now Jane realized just how broken she was.

"Do you always drink this much?"

"I'm not an alcoholic if that's what you're asking," Alex said defensively.

"It wasn't." Jane said taking another sip of her beer. "You just look like shit."

Alex chuckled at the comment. "Well detective you don't look much better yourself." Jane found herself chuckling back at Alex. It surprised her that it was so easy to talk to Alex. Jane wasn't drunk enough to have her opinion on the woman change; yet there she was talking with her. "So what are you doing here? Drinking away your problems too?"

Jane shook her head. It would take a lot more than one beer to get her to talk about the real reason she was there. "Rough day at work," she lied. Work hadn't been nearly as rough as waking up from yet another dream about Maura. "What about you?"

"Drinking myself numb." Alex glanced at Jane, with a grin spread across her face. "Drink enough and I'll forget the bullshit for a while. It's not like my life can get more fucked up."

She was surprised that the detective was actually listening to her complaining. Her drunken self was actually enjoying the company. Even if it was Jane's fault she was in this situation.

"Look, Alex, I can't say much but I went to talk to Bill Baker about a couple of people of interest in the Harper case, my partner spent the day interrogating them." Jane was surprised by the words that left her mouth. What the hell was she doing? "I went home early so I don't know if it went anywhere but I want you to know we are still looking."

Alex dropped her head back so she was staring at the ceiling. To Jane she appeared to be thinking, but it could have been something to do with her being drunk. "Cheers to you guys then." She dropped her head and raised her nearly empty bottle.

"I also told Bill I'd have someone check on you, he's worried," Jane said, "he said something about your brother."

"Course he's worried. He's looked after me since I started going to his gym. But he's concern is misplaced this has nothing to do with my brother."

"I'm getting that there is bad blood between you and your brother."

Alex finished her beer. "The bad blood is with my mother. My brother just happens to have taken her side. I don't want to talk about it." Alex glanced over at the clock on the wall then rose from her seat. "I need to get home."

She tossed a few crumpled bills on the bar without even looking at them. Jane watched her for a moment. it was obvious that Alex wasn't very stable on her feet and that she definitely couldn't drive.

"Hang on you're not thinking of driving are you?" Jane asked.

"No. I'm walking." Alex began to stumble towards the door. She didn't get very far before she bumped into a rather large woman.

"Watch where you're going asshole!" the woman shouted.

"Or what?"

Jane could see where things were going and immediately rose from her seat. She maneuvered between the woman and Alex. "BPD. I suggest you sit down before we have a problem. Alex you come with me."

The angered woman backed down fairly easily. Alex, on the other hand, wasn't as willing to give it a rest. Forcing Jane to lead the drunk construction worker out of the bar.

Outside Jane almost immediately broke into a sweat. During the hour she had been in the bar the humidity had risen. She was about to let Alex go when she really took a good look at her. Alex had bloodshot eyes and was swaying slightly. She was also tripping over her own feet.

"Come on, let me give you a ride back to your apartment."

"You promise that's where you're taking me?"

"Yes I promise."

"If I weren't so drunk I'd be suspicious, but I'm really just dizzy."

"Just get in the car."

"Yes ma'am."

Jane just rolled her eyes.

XXXXX

Jane helped Alex stumble into her apartment. They only got as far as the couch before Alex collapsed on her couch. Blue walked over to them sniffing the air but quickly lost interest. Jane wasn't quite sure what more she could do for Alex. Except maybe leave her card incase Alex sobered up and could help ID the man in the security video or if she just needed help.

"You going to be alright?" she asked, glancing quickly around the apartment.

"Depends on your definition of 'alright'," Alex replied.

"I'm going to leave my card. If you need anything just call."

"Aye, aye Captain."

"Get some rest Alex."

She wasn't really sure why she was suddenly concerned about a woman she barely knew but she was.

"Hey Jane. I'm the last person you should take advice from but whoever it is that's got you so worked up? Go for it. Worse that can happen is they say no. Don't be missing your chance."

"Alex?"

"Yes officer?"

"I hate you."

"You say the sweetest things."

"Goodbye Alex.

"Bye Jane."

Jane she the apartment door behind her, smiling ever so slightly. Alex was rather interesting drunk. She was also right. Jane did need to go for it. She'd already lost her nerve once that night. She wasn't about to lose it again.

XXXXX

Maura sat alone on her couch flipping through one of her old medical books. On the coffee table sat an untouched glass of wine. She wasn't sure what to do with her evening. Recently she had always been in Janes company after work; however, Jane had gone home early and Maura hadn't heard from her since. She figured that Jane had just fallen asleep early. It wasn't like she was obligated to call Maura if she wasn't coming over.

Sighing inwardly Maura reached for her wine; only to pause when she heard a knock at the door. It was only seven thirty in the evening but that didn't stop Maura from wondering who was knocking on her door. Jane never knocked so Maura had no reason to think it was her. Angela never knocked either. Hope, Korsak and Constance always knocked. Maura couldn't figure out why any one of them would be there. Especially unannounced.

Which was why it surprised her, and worried her, when she glanced through the peep hole and saw someone she didn't expect. When she opened the door the detective looked up from her hands, the palm of which she was rubbing, one of her nervous ticks. It was unlike Jane to drop by unannounced and then wait outside for Maura to let her in. Maura could tell that something was seriously wrong.

"Jane? Korsak said you went home early. I wasn't expecting you."

"I know, I'm sorry I would have called but…" Jane stopped and started rubbing her other hand. "Can I come in? I need to talk to you."

"Of course Jane." Maura moved aside to allow Jane into the house before shutting the door behind them. "What's going on?"

Jane looked around nervously, appearing like it was her first time visiting Maura at home. The blonde wanted to reach out and comfort her friend but Jane seemed to want to keep some space between them.

"I was headed over here earlier but… I don't know I guess I just didn't know if I should."

Maura watched her friend with obvious concern. It was rare that jane would come to her with a fear the detective couldn't handle on her own.

"I thought a couple of drinks might make it easier for me to come over here and just tell you what's going on."

"You've been drinking?"

"Hardly. I barely finished my first beer when Alex nearly started a fight."

"I'm confused," Maura said, "you were drinking with Alex?"

"What? No." Jane said shaking her head. "I ran into Alex at the bar. To say she was wasted is an understatement. I took her home. Now I'm here and I don't know what to say."

"Jane say whatever you need to say. No matter what it is you can trust me."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Jane closed her eyes as she spoke, unable to keep eye contact with her friend. "Either things will be the same or they won't be."

"I don't understand."

"I need you Maura. I can't keep lying to myself about it. I. Need. You. That's the problem Maura. I don't want to feel that way about you. I-I can't feel that way about you. Its been driving me insane. I just need to know…" She fell silent having her heart out on her sleeve like she did physically hurt.

Jane felt Maura's hand on her shoulder. All of the murderers she had arrested in her career she couldn't even bring herself to look at her closest friend.

Maura watched Jane closely. Human behavior wasn't her forte but she had always been good at judging the detective. Right now she needed to ensure she wasn't pushing Jane too far too soon. Unable to stop herself Maura lightly caressed Jane's cheek.

Jane responded to her touch immediately. She grabbed Maura's wrist, holding Maura hand in place. That's when it happened.

Jane wasn't sure who initiated it. But their lips connected. Maura wasn't her first kiss but Jane wanted her to be her last. The only way to describe it was sparks. She felt sparks. Maura leaned into the kiss and moaned.

 _Stop._

 _What?_

 _I said stop._

Jane pulled away from Maura. The way Maura looked at her tore at her heart strings. "I can't do this."

Maura didn't speak. She took Jane's hand in her running her fingers over the scarred flesh on the back of the detective's hand. Jane watched her. enjoying the contrast between her calloused hands and Maura's smooth fingers.

"Why are you so afraid Jane?" Maura asked keeping her focus solely on Jane's hand. "Is it because you're worried I won't return your feelings? Because I do."

"You're my best friend…it just didn't seem right," Jane said. "It's hard for me. It always has been. I've never actually dealt with it. I couldn't. I was scared. I still am."

When Maura moved to hug her Jane didn't move away. Instead she wrapped her arms around the blonde, pulling her as close as possible. Maura held her. They stayed like that for a long time. Not saying anything. They simply stood in the silence together, waiting.

For the first time in months Jane felt all of her stress disappear. Having Maura so close to her everything felt right. She was sure it wouldn't last but for the moment it was all she needed.

After a while Maura pulled away. Jane protested momentarily until she realized Maura wasn't pulling away from her. She only wanted to look Jane in the eye.

"It's alright to be scared. Like I've said before I'm here for you. We can take this as slow as you need. So long as you're interested."

"I…" Jane dropped her gaze to the floor. The worst of it was already over. Maura was in front of her giving her a chance. She smiled. "Thank you Maura."

"Always."

"Do you mind if I stay tonight?"

Maura chuckled, "Of course not."

"Maybe we could just talk?"

"As opposed to… what?"

Jane rubbed the back of her neck, a sheepish look crossing her face. "I um… I mean you know…"

"Use your words Jane."

Jane felt her face grow hot. "I don't think I want to." Jane felt like she was in high school again. Awkwardly trying to explain what she didn't want to explain. She was a grown woman how hard was it to play into Maura's playful teasing. "You're doing this on purpose."

"I am. I apologize. But you're cute when you get flustered."

"Cute? That's what you think of me?"

"There is a lot of things I think about you. But telling by your increased heartrate and the redness of your face you aren't quite ready for that."

"Thank you."

"I'm just glad you finally told me. I was worried about you."

"You and I both, it's a weight off my chest."

XXXXX

Maura watched from her bed as Jane stripped out of her work clothes down to her boy shorts and bra. They had never been shy around one another but there was something different between them now. It was a small change but it was impossible to ignore. Jane didn't speak as she undressed. There was none of the usual banter that went on between them. Maura simply watched her.

Jane stopped with her slacks folded in her hand. She could feel Maura watching her with a different intensity than before. Jane smiled over at Maura. she could get use to the idea of waking up next to Maura every morning. For a moment she forgot why she had ever been afraid to admit her feelings in the first place.

With her slacks discarded Jane moved to lay next to Maura without bothering to look for sweatpants. Maura had also opted out of her usual sleepwear.

"Have I ever told you that you have an amazing body structure?"

"I think you might have mentioned bone structure at some point in the years I've known you. But I don't remember I was never really listening," Jane said earning a light pinch on her thigh. "Ow. What was that for?"

"Being a smartass."

"Maura you know I always listen to you. Hard not to." Jane slowly ran her fingers down Maura's arm. "There's something about your voice that… I don't really know how to describe it. But I never get tired of hearing you."

Jane began to trace shapes against Maura's thigh. She never let her gaze wonder far away from her hand.

"So what made you come here Jane?" Maura asked resting her head on Jane's chest. "I don't suppose your run in with Alex had anything to do with it?"

"With as drunk as she was it was surprising that she gave such good advice."

"What did she tell you?"

"To not miss my chance." Jane yawned loudly. "Can we not talk about her. It's really a mood killer."

"Please tell me what 'mood' is it killing?"

"Whatever this is." Jane motioned at their still forms.

Maura chuckled. She allowed her eyes to drift shut. She wasn't really tired but being so close to Jane made her want to just stop and enjoy the moment. she listened to the detective's heartbeat. She could tell it was beating faster than normal. Which was to be expected with how nervous Jane appeared to be.

Jane appeared to be content with Maura's sudden silence as she allowed herself to settle farther into the bed. One arm found its way around Maura's waist, pulling her closer. For the first time in a long time what she was feeling felt right. She was nervous, true, but also unbelievably happy. She felt the biggest relief knowing Maura wasn't about to turn her away. It was almost as if the conformation had lifted a cloud from her mind.

"Hey Maura?"

Jane didn't expect a response. Maura's shallow breathing was enough to tell her the medical examiner had fallen asleep. It was only once she was sure Maura was asleep that Jane allowed herself to drift off.

And for the first night in months she wasn't concerned that she would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay chapter 10. I really wish I had posted this before the series finale but alas time got away from me. Chapter 11 is already on the way and should be up soon so long as I get all of my papers done. One thing I am considering is writing a sequel to this one. It all depends on what you guys think but I won't decide until I finish this story in the next few chapters. Anyway thanks for reading, review let me know what you think/feel and as always enjoy!**

Chapter 10

Jane felt a weight on her shoulder as she blinked trying to get her senses about her. the sleeping woman next to her didn't budge. She smiled. _Maura…_ She didn't want to move and risk waking the blonde. When she had fallen asleep last night she had been sure that when she awoke Maura would no longer be next to her. She was glad she had been wrong. With her free hand Jane brushed her fingers down Maura's arm. Seeing Maura so vulnerable made her heart melt. She loved Maura, but it was more than just as family like she always led herself to believe. She truly loved her and would do anything for her. Years of working together and being close friends proved that.

Next to her Maura stirred, pulling herself closer to Jane, inhaling deeply. A light moan escaped her as she looked up into Jane's smiling face. She couldn't help but smile back.

"Good morning Jane." She brushed her hair back greeting the woman next to her.

"Great morning," Jane said glancing over at the clock. "It's early. You have time to shower."

"I will in a bit." Maura muttered craning her neck to bring her lips to Jane's in a deep kiss.

Jane's first instinct was to pull away. She pushed the urge away and surrendered herself to the kiss. It wasn't demanding or heated like the night before. It was drawn out full of promise for what was to happen between them. They only pulled apart when the need for air overpowered them.

"I'm glad you stayed Jane," Maura said. "I know this wasn't easy for you."

"You made it easier," Jane admitted. "Thank you. I mean it."

XXXXX

Her phone rang while she was waiting for Maura to finish in the shower. It was Korsak. Jane had expected to hear from him yesterday after he finished interviewing their three new suspects. When he hadn't she assumed he hadn't found anything. It was a pleasant surprise to hear from him now.

"Rizzoli."

"Wasn't sure if I would get you or not. You sound better."

"Are you checking in on me or are you calling about the case?" Even though she was close with Korsak she wasn't ready to disclose what was going on with her yet. It was all too new to her.

"I am checking up on you. But I also called because I knew you'd want to know what Frankie and I learned while you were gone."

"It would be nice."

"Both James Garrett and Marco Rodriguez have air tight alibis for the night of the murder. They also both voluntarily gave a DNA sample."

"What about Fin Johnson?"

"Home alone the night of the murder. Frankie is talking to his neighbors to see if they can shed any light on his whereabouts. He also refused to give a DNA sample. I've already requested a warrant but it will take a couple days."

"Kent is running the samples we do have then?"

"As we speak."

It was all good news. Three suspects, two of which were cooperating fully and one who wasn't. It wasn't an automatic sign of a guilty person if they refused to give a sample. Just like asking for a lawyer, refusing a search or sample without a warrant was a measure to protect oneself. Jane understood that but when a suspect asked for a warrant or a lawyer it was a tactic to make them believe only guilty people did that. People became more willing to talk or help that way.

"It's something at least," Jane said. "I'll be in soon to help with whatever you guys have left me."

"One other thing," Korsak stopped her. "Even though we ruled out Jennifer Nelson as a suspect she came in to answer a few questions. According to her there is bad blood between one of our suspects and Alexis Eldsfield."

Jane smiled even though Korsak couldn't see her. She'd missed a lot by leaving early.

"Let me guess, Fin Johnson?"

"Bingo. Apparently Alex did something that pissed of Johnson and he's had a problem with her ever since. It also seems to be one sided. Whenever Johnson does something out of line Alex pays little attention."

"Sounds like motive to me," she said nodding to herself. "Did Nelson tell you what the whole thing was all about?"

"She didn't know," Korsak replied. "I thought you might want to pay a visit to Alex and get her side of the story."

Jane thought for a minute. They definitely needed to follow up on the information. She reasoned Korsak had already thought about talking to Fin Johnson about it. Jane was sure he would be less then eager to talk about his problem with Alex. The real question was whether or not Alex would want to talk to them. After all that had happened Jane doubted it. Although her encounter with Alex the night before lead her to believe Alex might be more open to talking with them. Of course Alex had been drunk which could have leant to her willingness to talk to Jane.

"I'll go with Maura. I feel like having a neutral party may make her more willing to talk to us," she said after a long moments pause. "While we're doing that you could head back over to Baker's Gym and see if you can find anything else out about the feud."

"Sounds like a plan," Korsak agreed. "Be careful Janie."

"I will Korsak. I'll see you at the station when I'm done."

Jane set her phone down on the counter. Her brain already sorting through the information Korsak had given her. Alex had never mentioned a problem with any other boxers. If she had the case might have already been closed. Of course Jane was partially to blame for Alex's lack of cooperation. She hadn't done much to warrant Alex to disclose any information that wasn't directly related to her relationship with the victim. Jane had seen her as guilty from the beginning.

Alex on the other hand could have come forward at any time if she thought anyone tied to her could have murdered Grace Harper. She didn't exactly have many friends and Jane was certain she had pissed off her fair share of people.

One way or another they needed Alex's help.

"Was that Korsak?" Maura asked joining Jane at the counter.

"Yeah. They came across a promising lead yesterday." Jane briefly explained what Korsak had told her. Maura looked just as relieved to hear the information as Jane had felt.

"That's good."

"It is," Jane sighed. "However, we need to talk to Alex to see how deep this dispute between her and Johnson really went."

"Will she even want to talk to you?"

"I don't know. I hope so. That's why I want you with me," Jane admitted. "She might talk to you if she won't talk to me."

"What makes you think that?"

"You're a good looking woman."

"I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"I know Alex's type. Trust me if she won't talk to me as a cop trying to solve her friends murder, she'll talk to you."

"I don't know how I should feel about you using me to gain information."

Jane took Maura's hand in hers and squeezed it gently. "I'm only asking. You don't have to."

Maura had always found it hard to tell Jane no. After last night even though all they did was talk Maura was willing to do what Jane asked of her. Of course Maura would have done it anyway. If it meant putting a killer behind bars.

XXXXX

The last thing Jane and Maura expected to see when they reached Alex's apartment building was an ambulance. Jane pulled the car to the curb and got out. Maura followed her closely. She wasn't too keen with Jane's plan to speak with Alex. If the woman would even talk to Jane in the first place. She did agree with Jane's assumption that Alex would be more comfortable talking to her. When they had run into each other in the elevator Maura had picked up on something from Alex. It hadn't been that difficult to figure out what it was.

"I wonder what happened?" Maura asked glancing at Jane. She noticed the detective looking up at the windows on the third floor.

"I don't know. Alex has an elderly neighbor, the ambulance could be for her," Jane suggested. "Not to mention all the other people who live here. Could be anything. Let's get moving."

Maura followed behind as Jane lead them up three flights of stairs. When they reached the third floor landing Jane paused, causing Maura to bump into her. She followed Jane's gaze down the hall and saw exactly what had caused Jane to stop. An elderly woman, Maura assumed was Nancy, stood in the door of her apartment watching the commotion at the end of the hall. Maura nudged Jane, pointing towards 3A.

"Jane is that Alex's apartment?" she asked.

Jane couldn't see into the apartment from where they were standing but she could tell that there were EMT's in the room.

"Wait here."

Maura didn't protest. There was nothing she could do; she didn't work on the living. She watched as Jane disappeared into the apartment. Leaving her alone observing from afar much like Nancy.

When Jane entered the apartment one of the EMT's turned to ask her to leave. She quickly flashed her badge and made sure to give them room to work. Alex was on the ground, unconscious. From the looks of things, the EMT's had only just arrived in the apartment when Jane and Maura had arrived. Alex wasn't going to be talking to them any time soon.

"What happened here?"

"A neighbor found her after she heard the dog barking. When we arrived we found her unconscious with an empty bottle of whiskey next to her. We believe it's alcohol poisoning. If you'll excuse us we need to get her to the hospital."

"Of course."

XXXXX

Once the EMT's were gone Maura joined Jane in the apartment. She was unsure as to why Jane wasn't leaving but she didn't ask. Maura stood there watching Alex's massive Pitbull pace around the room, whimpering to himself. She understood the dog's behavior enough to know that he was distressed about the two strangers in his home.

Jane glanced around the apartment taking as much in as she could. It looked as if a single woman in her thirties lived there. Although there were a few areas that lacked attention such as the dished piled up in the sink and a large pile of laundry in the corner. They should have gone to the hospital with Alex. They didn't need to search Alex's apartment nor did they have the right. Still Jane wasn't sure what to do with Blue. Alex had mentioned his tendency to get out and whine until she returned. She didn't want to just leave him.

Her foot connected with an empty bottle. She realized it hadn't been there when she had brought Alex home. She held it up for Maura to see.

"I guess whiskey is her poison of choice," she said. "If she drank the whole thing I can't believe she's not dead."

"I'm sure Alex has a high alcohol tolerance," Maura said. "She's also in peak physical condition."

"She seemed fine when I left her." She shook her head unable to understand. "If she is always like this she won't make a reliable witness…"

"I don't think she's an alcoholic," Maura said. "It's not uncommon or someone in an extremely stressful situation to fall into self-destructive behavior. Especially someone like Alex."

Jane nodded. The longer she spent on the case the more she learned about Alex. The more she learned about Alex the more she realized Alex was an extremely damaged woman. She hoped some good news would help Alex in some way. Jane may not have liked the woman but she didn't want to see her self-destruct either.

"You're right."

"I know I am."

"Full of yourself too."

"I wouldn't say that."

They glanced over at Blue. He had finally settled down enough to lay down and watch the two women.

"Maybe we should figure out what to do with him before we go to the hospital," Maura suggested.

"Call Korsak, I'm sure he'll watch Blue."

XXXXX

Alex groaned as her senses were assaulted by bright lights and the overpowering smell of disinfectant. The unfamiliar setting was disorienting. She knew she was no longer in her home but her head hurt so much she couldn't begin to figure out where she was. She wondered how she had even gotten there- where ever 'there' was. She squinted at the florescent lights above her.

Another groan escaped her as she turned her head away from the light. It was then she noticed a figure standing against the wall. _Marian_ …? Alex immediately dismissed the thought. Why would Marian be standing so far away? All the questions racing through her head made it impossible to focus.

"I was starting to wonder if you would ever wake up."

Alex tried to sit up. The motion caused a tube to tug at her arm causing slight discomfort. She couldn't mistake that voice. It was distinct, low but friendly almost husky but still very feminine. Alex wished she was wrong. "If you're here I must be in Hell."

The figure snorted. It only took her a second to come into Alex's field of vision. If the woman's remark hadn't told Jane Alex was less than happy to see her. The look on her face sure did.

"You're in the hospital."

"Same thing if you ask me." Alex rubbed her temple as she spoke. "What the hell happened? My head is killing me."

"Your neighbor called 9-1-1 when she heard your dog barking. First responders found you on the floor unconscious. Suspected alcohol poisoning," Jane explained.

"Son of a bitch…" Alex muttered. "I can't believe I would be that stupid…"

She shook her head which only made her head hurt more. "So what are you doing here then?"

"I went by your apartment to talk to you which was when I learned about what happened."

"Talk to me about what?"

"My partner came across a new lead." She sat down next to Alex. "I was hoping you could help us clarify a few things."

Alex let her eyes close as she nodded slowly. From what she remembered of last night she had run into Detective Rizzoli at a bar and she had been kind enough to help the impaired woman back home. This was her chance to pay it forward and thank the detective. Which was only part of why Alex was willing to help. She'd already made the mistake of being uncooperative with the detective before. She wanted to do whatever she could to help the detective's catch Gracie's killer.

"Whatever you need detective," Alex agreed. "It's about time I get my head out of my ass and help. I was supposed to be a fucking lawyer after all, might as well act like it."

She held out her hand for the detective to take. Jane stared at the woman trying to gage the offer momentarily before nodded and taking ahold of Alex's hand.

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you before. Can we put that behind us for the sake of this case?" Jane asked.

"It would make everything so much easier," Alex smiled. "Truce? For Gracie?"

"Truce."

Alex settled back into the bed. Jane wasn't so bad when she wasn't being a complete asshole. The fact that the detective was willing to apologize and find common ground said a lot about her. Alex respected that.

"So what do you need my help with?"

"We talked with a couple people from your gym one of which, Jennifer Nelson, mentioned that there had been some problems with you and another boxer, Fin Johnson." Jane reached into her jacket pocket and produced a notepad. "What exactly went on between you two?"

Alex ran a hand through her hair, thinking. Jane waited patiently for her to speak. She hadn't even considered the possibility that someone she knew could have attacked Grace. Especially someone from her gym. Fin had been the only one to ever give her trouble therefore it made sense that the detectives looked at it.

"At first Fin was a fairly nice guy a lot of aggression in the ring which I always wrote off as testosterone," Alex shrugged. "Once I spent some time there, Bill put me in the ring with Fin for a quick spar. I kicked his ass. Don't get me wrong Fin is a great fighter but he's predictable and he's not as fast on his feet."

"Is that when the problems started?" Jane asked.

"Now that I think about it yeah," Alex said. "Fin got a lot more aggressive after that, not just with me but with other boxers. Most of it was directed at me."

"Did he ever act on his aggression towards you?"

"Not outside of the ring, if he had he'd have been in intensive care," Alex stated. "But I wouldn't put it past him. It isn't hard to make him angry."

Jane nodded as she took down the information Alex gave to her. If Fin was prone to violent outbursts it stood in good reason that he could have killed Grace. It also struck Jane as odd that Fin had become more aggressive. There was a good possibility that Fin was using performance enhancing drugs. Which again could account for the attack on Grace.

Alex didn't continue leaving Jane to believe that was all Alex had to say about the relationship without farther questioning. That was fine with Jane she had enough information about Fin. She moved onto her next inquiry. She presented Alex with images of the surveillance footage Nina had spent hours searching through. The first image was one that she had already show Alex when she had been the prime suspect. The second image was the one that had lead the detectives to their three suspects. Alex took them from Jane. She spent a minute staring at the original image before moving her focus to the new one. Jane couldn't tell if Alex recognized the person or if anything about the image seemed familiar to her.

"The second image was pulled from a security camera a block away from the crime scene. Our computer analyst Nina Holiday confirmed that the men in both images are the same person," Jane explained. "Do you recognize him?"

Alex continued to examine the second image. It was much clearer than the first. She found it strange that the color of the jacket was different but anyone could change a jacket to throw off the police. She noticed the tattoo on the man's hand, or at least she assumed it was a tattoo. It didn't stand out to her. She knew a lot of people with tattoos on their hands. Yes, Fin had one but so did a dozen of people that Alex worked with. It wasn't enough to clearly identify the man in the photo.

She shook her head and glanced over at Jane. "I can't say I do recognize him. I can't say I don't either."

"Is there anything about him that stand out?" Jane inquired.

"Not in particular." Alex glimpsed down at the image in her hands. Nothing about it stood out. she could be looking at a dozen different people. She was about to respond to Jane when something on the jacket caught her eye. It was barely legible but she recognized the shape. Two boxing gloves above a ring surrounded by a shield. "I know this emblem."

Jane turned her attention from her notepad to Alex. They had seen the emblem but hadn't done much to enhance it since it was partially out of view. That might have been a mistake.

"What is it?" Jane asked.

"It's the emblem for the amateur boxing night the gyms around town host once a month. Whoever wins the competition gets a jacket with the logo and the name of the gym on the chest," Alex explained. "Grab my phone I'll show you."

Jane moved across the room to Alex's personal belongings. It took her a minute of digging but she finally found it. She returned to Alex and handed her the phone.

"So dozens of people could have this jacket?" Jane already knew the answer but she needed to ask anyway.

"Basically the only real difference is the name of the gym if the boxer chooses to personalize it." Alex was scrolling through her photos looking for one in particular. "See? I had Baker's Gym added to mine but it's the same as this one."

Jane took the phone from Alex. The picture Alex had pulled up was one of herself smiling proudly. But that wasn't what she was showing Jane. The jacket Alex was wearing in the picture was identical to the one in the surveillance footage. The only difference was that Alex's was blue instead of orange.

"Why is yours blue?"

"They separate weight classes. Each on has a different color. Mine is blue, Jennifer is a featherweight theirs is green for some reason. Heavyweight is red."

"And orange is?"

"Welterweight," Alex smirked. "Fin Johnson won his a few months ago."

Jane couldn't help but smile. The information Alex was giving her would go a long way. Fin Johnson was looking like the perfect suspect. The fact that he refused to give a DNA sample only strengthened Jane's hope that they finally had their killer.

"Thank you Alex. Hopefully what you've told me while give us enough to make an arrest."

She rose from her seat prepared to leave so she could get working with the new information. She hadn't even moved before Alex grabbed her arm. Jane nearly jerked away from Alex in a knee-jerk response.

"I know you can't talk about an open case with me but I need to know how close you are." Alex was nearly begging. And as much as Jane didn't want to discuss the case the way Alex looked at her made it hard to walk away.

"We're working on getting a warrant for Fin's DNA until we get that all we have is a circumstantial case."

There was a pause. "I think I can help you there."

"How?"

"When you brought me in for questioning I had been sparring with Fin. He was the last person I fought. I bet his DNA is on my gloves."

"Where are they?"

"At the gym in my locker. It's number 29. Just tell Bill I said you could get in there."

Jane was surprised at the sudden offer. She was sure that there was some catch to Alex offering up evidence but it was faster than getting a warrant.

"You want something in return?"

Alex let go of Jane's arm with a smile. "All I ask is that you let me be there when you bring him in." It was a small favor, one that Jane didn't need to accept. She surprised herself by nodding. She could do this one thing for Alex.

XXXXX

Jane almost missed Maura as she exited Alex's room. She had been standing against the wall waiting for the detective for over an hour while she questioned Alex. She had offered to stay in case Jane had needed her but as it turned out she hadn't needed to. Maura could see by the look on Jane's face that she had gained some valuable information on the case.

"How did it go?" Maura asked.

"Good," Jane replied. "Listen we need to stop at Baker's Gym. Alex has a pair of gloves that may have Fin's DNA on them. I need you to run them."

"Of course," Maura agreed. "Although if she used those gloves often any sample I find may be contaminated with someone else's DNA which won't hold up in court."

"It will be enough for an arrest," Jane reminded her. "If I can get him to confess we won't need to take it to trial."

Maura nodded. She hadn't seen Jane this energetic for weeks. It appeared that the detective was finally getting back to her old self. It was refreshing to have Jane as focused as she was. It was one of the things Maura loved about her.

Jane stopped in the lobby. Maura stopped next to her unsure of what the detective was stopping for.

"I've got a good feeling about this Maur."

Maura didn't have enough time to respond before Jane's lips brushed against hers. The contact only lasted a few seconds but it lingered on Maura's lips as Jane lead her out of the hospital and to the car.

 **Things are coming to a close pretty fast but there is more to this story than just the case. You guys are great and thank you for your continuing patience. Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey, sorry for the long wait. I've been busy with school and I had a 5K over the weekend and this chapter ran long. As asked Rizzles romance towards the end so here's your warning. I'm proud of this chapter. Let me say writing the last bit of this chapter was hard because it is not something I'm great at writing but hopefully you'll enjoy it. There's another chapter, maybe two haven't figure it out yet. So thanks for staying with me, please let me know what you think, and as always enjoy.**

Chapter 11

Initially Alex believed that Detective Rizzoli had only agreed to her request to get what she needed to close the case. She wouldn't have blamed the detective if that was the case. Alex had no right watching an interrogation. She had no right being informed of an arrest. She had only been Grace's friend and she knew Cody wanted nothing to do with her. The truth was Alex needed closure. She needed to know why Fin had killed Gracie. Alex shook her head. She didn't even know if Fin was the killer, she only assumed he was. Not that it really mattered in the long run.

Alex stepped outside the hospital and took a deep breath of fresh air. For the longest time she had hated hospitals. Having spent weeks in a stark white room after her assault Alex had sworn she would never go back. Now she wished she had gone with the medics after Cody attacked her. The doctors had kept her overnight and had found she had suffered from a concussion, her jaw had healed properly but her nose had set at a slight angle. It was barely noticeable but it was there.

"Need a ride?"

She turned towards the voice and found herself smiling. Detective Rizzoli stood leaning against her car. Alex walked over to Jane. She couldn't help but be surprised that the detective had shown up at the hospital.

"I take it this isn't a social visit?" Alex doubted they'd have many social visits even after the case was closed.

"We had a deal," Jane said. "The information you gave us and the gloves you handed over? Lead us right to him. My partner is picking Fin up as we speak."

"Are you hoping on getting a confession out of him?"

"That's the plan," Jane confirmed. "My partner and I are good at what we do Alex. We'll get a confession."

Alex wanted nothing more than to trust Detective Rizzoli. But after having been in an interrogation with the detective she knew that she skimmed the line of what was legal. If Jane pushed too hard the defense would say the confession was coerced and the statement would be out. It didn't mean Fin would go free but it did mean the prosecution would have to work that much harder to ensure Fin was sentenced.

"Then let's not keep them waiting." Alex said.

"Get in."

XXXXX

Alex stood alone behind the two-way mirror. In the other room Detective Rizzoli and Detective Korsak sat across from Fin Johnson. She had stood in observation before during her short time working for the DA in New York. Back then it had been her job to decide what to do with the suspect or witness and how to proceed with the case. Now she was just an observer. A woman who wanted to know why her friend was murdered.

She sighed. It didn't feel right. She shouldn't be there.

"You must be Alex."

Turning, Alex found herself face to face with the woman from the elevator. The woman had her name but Alex had no clue who she was. She took the hand she had been offered. As they shook hands Alex got a better look at the woman. Average build, shorter than Alex by a few inches, blonde hair, hazel eyes. Her clothes suggested that she wasn't a cop. A lawyer maybe? No. Alex knew lawyers and the woman wasn't one.

"I'm sorry but who are you?" Alex inquired of the woman.

"I'm Dr. Maura Isles." Maura came to stand next to Alex as she spoke. "I assume Jane didn't mention I would be observing."

"It's nice to meet you." She turned her attention back to the interrogation room. "Is it normal for you to be here during interrogations?"

"Only when they ask me to be."

"Did they?"

"No. But I saw no harm in watching while waiting for Mr. Johnsons blood test come back."

She could feel the doctor's eyes on her more than likely trying to get a feel for Alex. She did her best to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of being watched. As much as Alex found Dr. Isles attractive that wasn't her reason for being there. The only thing she cared about at the moment was why. Why had Fin killed Grace? She needed to know if it had been her fault.

Maura continued to closely watch Alex as they stood there. She hadn't been lying about her reason for being there. She hadn't necessarily told the entire truth as to her presence either. Over the entirety of the case Maura had only once had contact with Alex and for only a brief moment. That brief meeting had been enough to catch her interest. Her curiosity grew when she saw how much Jane was effected by her encounters with the woman. It was not unusual for Jane to have a certain dislike for suspects but this was different. Maura wasn't a psychologist but she understood human behavior and she wanted to understand Alex.

XXX

In the interrogation room Jane and Korsak sat side by side across from Fin. Both were on edge. While Fin was being escorted by two officers something had set him off and her attacked the two men. It took three officers to subdue him. They fray had caused Fin to get a bloody nose, luckily enough for the detectives. They immediately sent a sample to the lab to test for use of steroids. Of course even if they couldn't get him for murder, which they could, he would be held for assaulting an officer.

They had advised him of his rights which he had promptly waved. Fin was extremely cocky. He would eventually slip up and confess to the murder. Jane was sure of that. His resistance to the police after he had already been brought in was a testament to that.

"You understand why you're here correct?" Korsak asked.

"You think I killed someone." Fin shifted in his seat as he responded. "If you have enough to arrest me then your job is done isn't it?"

"We wanted to give you a chance to explain what happened the night of the murder. I'm sure the DA would be more willing to offer a plea bargain in exchange for a confession."

"I appreciate the gesture Detective but you're wasting your time. I didn't kill anyone."

He was definitely arrogant. Of course Fin was most likely not aware of the DNA that had been found on the victim as well as the DNA they had obtained thanks in part to Alex. Jane figured if Fin had been aware of the circumstances of his arrest he would have been more inclined to ask for a lawyer.

If Fin wanted to play innocent Jane would let him. Korsak would play the lead for the time being. Once Jane felt they were where they needed to be for a confession she would start her line of questioning. The route they were taking brought the risk of Fin lashing out again which would basically undue any progress they made. Jane needed to make sure Fin was completely aware he could ask for council at any time. They would have to rely on hope that he wouldn't ask for one.

"See I want to believe you but you lied to us about where you were the night Grace Harper was murdered." He wasn't sure if the good cop bad cop routine would work on someone like Fin but he tried anyway. "You have to understand that you lying to us makes it hard for us to believe you."

"This is bullshit," Fin growled. "I don't even know who this woman is. Why should it matter where I was?"

"Because we know you did it Fin," Jane declared. "Why did you do it Fin? She piss you off like those officers did? Or did you just pick a fight because she was an easy target?"

"Shut up," Fin warned.

"Do you make a habit out of attacking women?"

Korsak held up his hand signaling Jane to stop. "That's enough Detective Rizzoli." To Fin he said: "Are you sure you don't want a lawyer?"

XXX

Alex was enamored by the tactic the two detectives were using on Fin. It was nothing new. Alex had seen it done before and on weaker suspects it usually worked. Fin was a ticking time bomb. He would eventually snap and more than likely attack Jane and Korsak. Alex was still figuring out what the two detectives wanted out of Fin.

She was growing impatient with the time it was taking to get him to talk. She didn't want to wait for them to push Fin to the point of confessing. It was agonizing. Alex had lived with the pain and guilt of Grace's murder for months. Another hour should have been bearable. Instead it felt like it might kill her.

"I don't know why I thought this would be easy." She was talking about waiting to learn the truth but she didn't think Dr. Isles took it that way.

"I know both of the detectives well. They'll get him to talk. If not, they have substantial evidence to put him away for life." Maura's response surprised Alex. For the most part Maura had remained silent.

"I've known Jane since she became a detective," Maura replied. "And Detective Korsak I've known just as long."

Momentarily Alex forgot about the interrogation. Instead her attention moved to Maura. She hadn't seen it before because Maura had been watching her but now the doctor's attention was in front of her. Alex briefly glanced back into the interrogation room then back at Dr. Isles. She realized that Maura was only watching Detective Rizzoli. Alex closed her eyes. The look Dr. Isles had told her all she needed to know. Alex was no stranger to that look but no one so much as glanced at her like that anymore.

It was then Alex understood why Jane had been in that bar a couple nights ago. Jane hadn't been willing to talk about it. But Alex knew the woman next to her was that reason.

"You're close then?" Alex asked. "You and Detective Rizzoli I mean."

"We've been friends since we started working together." Maura paused realizing exactly what Alex was fishing for. "It isn't really important."

And it wasn't. it wasn't any of Alex's business. Maura didn't know Alex and she doubted she ever would.

"I'm sorry," Alex professed realizing her mistake. "I didn't mean to pry."

"You weren't." Maura assured her.

"I'm just having a hard time. It's just nice to have a conversation with someone." Alex wasn't trying to make excuses. She just felt so alone.

XXX

"We have video surveillance of you strangling Grace Harper, Fin. Lie to us all you want you're done for." Jane shoved the file she had in front of her towards him. "Go ahead and take a look. We know that is you."

Fin glanced at the images before him. He sneered shoving them back to Jane. "Those? You've got to be joking. That could be anyone!"

"It could be," Jane agreed. "But it isn't. Take a closer look. That tattoo on your hand? And that jacket? We know you have one just like that."

"Dozens of people have a jacket like that," he stated.

Jane was aware that this was the truth. As Alex had told her each weight class had a different color jacket and each gym had a different patch on the breast. Nina had worked her magic and enhanced the emblem. It wasn't the best quality but it was enough to match to Baker's gym. That, coupled with the DNA and the tattoo, was damning evidence against Fin.

"Look, let me make this clear, there is nothing I would like more than to send you off to booking and let a jury decide what happens to you." Jane leaned back in her chair attempting to appear indifferent. "My partner on the other hand wants to give you a chance. So cut the shit and tell us what happened that night."

Fin shook his head angrily. Jane was starting to get under his skin. He just wanted it to be over but he refused to be bullied. All they had was a crappy picture that was it. He wasn't going down for this.

"I. Did. Not. Kill. Her," he said firmly.

"Then tell me how your DNA ended up on her body?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"We found DNA on her body," Jane repeated. "Your DNA. Forensics confirmed it. What do you have to say about that?"

They watched Fin sink back into his seat. He clearly had no idea that they had DNA evidence. Jane wondered if it would be enough to get him to talk. If it wasn't there wasn't anything they could do but pass the case over to the DA.

XXX

Maura and Alex jumped when the door to the observation room opened. One look told Alex that the man worked in a lab most likely under Dr. Isles. He must have come up to pass on information.

"Dr. Isles the results came back on the blood tests you asked me to run," he said handing a file to Maura. "You were right about the steroids."

Maura skimmed over the information in the file. She nodded to herself. "Thank you Kent. Have the officer give this to Jane."

XXX

All three of them turned to face the door when a uniformed officer walked in. He held a file in his hand. The officer ignored Fin and moved right to Jane. He leaned down to whisper something in her ear before handing her the file he held. Jane glimpsed at the two-way mirror to her left and nodded. She took her time to scan the information that had been handed to her. once she was satisfied with what she saw she handed the folder to Korsak.

"Maybe I ran into her or something, I don't know," Fin exclaimed when neither of the detectives spoke. "I don't know her. You've got the wrong guy."

Korsak nodded. Jane rose from her seat, she had what she needed and was ready to finally obtain a confession. She walked up to the two-way. And even though she couldn't see through to the other side she knew Maura was there with Alex. It was time.

"You know the use of steroids without a prescription is against the law don't you?" Jane asked.

Jane wasn't looking at Fin but his reflection told her he was taken aback by the sudden change in questioning.

"Are you serious Detective?" he asked. "You've already accused me of murder now your adding a drug charge? What is this?"

"Detective work, it's my job," Jane said. "We have you. You're not doing yourself any favors by lying to us. Last chance Fin. What's it going to be?"

Jane moved away from the glass. She came over to stand behind Fin, her arms crossed, an air of determination around her. Fin had fallen silent. He understood that Detective Rizzoli wouldn't but up with his bullshit any longer. He realized he could make a decision. He could always ask for a lawyer. He didn't want one. Instead he chose not to speak, he found a spot on the wall and stared at it.

Jane had expected Fin's silence. Korsak nodded to her. If things went south, he needed to be ready to restrain Fin.

"Alright fine, don't say anything. I feel like I have an idea of what happened that night." She cracked her knuckles as she spoke. "So I'll run through what I think happened that night. If I get something wrong feel free to correct me. No matter what you're going to prison."

XXX

"What the hell is she doing?" Alex asked. "She does realize if she coerces him into a confession it will hurt the case. Even if she has enough to convict him it could call her into question."

"Just wait Alex," Maura assured her. "Jane knows what she's doing."

Alex clenched her jaw. There was a lot that could go wrong. But there was nothing she could do but trust Jane.

XXX

"We talked with a few of your fellow boxers and they told us about the problems you've had with Alexis Eldsfield. When we talked to her she told us about your temper. I assume that was a side-effect of your steroid use. And you're right the drugs have nothing to do with the murder." Jane planted her hands on the table so she was at eye level with Fin. "It does however link you to Grace Harper. You see the night of the murder she had gone out with Alex. I figure you saw them and lost your temper. You couldn't kill Alex so you settled for the next best thing."

"No," Fin growled. "Fuck Alex and fuck you too. So what Alex and I didn't like each other. It's a long way from murder."

"I've been wrong before," Jane admitted. "So what was it Fin? Why did you kill her? what did she do to make you so angry!"

"Enough!" Fin shouted jumping up from his chair with enough force to knock it against the wall. "You don't know a thing!"

"Sit down!" Jane ordered doing her best to square up against the man.

"Alex is a worthless excuse of a human being. I wouldn't waste my energy with her."

"So you wasted it killing Grace Harper."

Korsak had no time to react before Fin shoved the table towards him. Her partner fell back, stunned from the sudden impact. Jane went for her gun. She was to slow. Fin was on her pinning her against the wall. His hands wrapped around her throat. She struggled. Clawing at his hands and arms trying to get him to release her.

"It's over Fin…you're done," Jane gasped.

XXX

"Shit!" Alex yelled watching Fin lunge at Jane.

The detective hit the glass with enough force to shake the frame. Fin had a tight grip on Jane. Every nerve in Alex's body told her to help the detective. Korsak was still on the floor having hit his head against the wall. The officer outside hadn't seemed to notice the commotion. Alex stood there unsure of what to do.

Luckily Maura seemed to react faster than Alex. She was in the hall shouting at the officer to get into the interrogation room. Seconds later the same officer that had given Jane the file entered the room and grabbed Fin from behind. Fin let go of Jane long enough to throw the officer off of him.

"God damnit," Alex growled.

She threw the door open. If the officer hadn't been able to take Fin down she doubted she would be able to do much better. Her plan wasn't to subdue Fin. She just wanted to get him away from the detective.

She maneuvered around Fin into a position she could jump onto his back. She wrapped her arm around his neck and squeezed as hard as she could. She needed to give the officer enough time to recover.

"Get off of her Fin!"

Alex could feel Fin struggling for air. She applied more pressure until she felt him drop his hands from the detective. He stumbled back. As he did Alex let go and moved out of the way. At the same time the officer and Korsak, who had got his senses about him launched themselves at Fin. Effectively taking him down.

Between coughs and gasps for air Jane caught her partners gaze. They hadn't been expecting him to have such a reaction. The officer was cuffing Fin who was still shouting.

"The bitch had it coming! You understand me!"

Then he was gone. Taken from the room and off to booking. Fin was done. He had dug his own grave.

With help from Korsak, Jane sat down in a chair allowing herself to recover. She rubbed her neck. It would probably bruise which wasn't something she was looking forwards too. No one spoke. They had all been caught off guard.

Maura finally joined the three. Her concern was with Korsak and Jane as the had both been injured. Korsak waved her off insisting it had only been a bump on the head. Jane tried to wave her off as well with no success.

"Are you alright Jane?" Maura asked.

She reached out turning Jane's head to get a better view of her neck. The area was red and in some places already bruising. Maura ran her fingers over the raw skin. Jane flinched but didn't pull away.

"I'm fine Maura really," Jane insisted. "This is not the worst thing I've had happen to me."

"Still you could have been seriously hurt." She looked up at Korsak. "Both of you could have been seriously hurt. You understand someone who abuses anabolic steroids is prone to RoidRage don't you? Pushing him like that was dangerous."

"I know Maura, we had planned on it," Jane stated. "It was the only way we were getting anything out of him."

"It was incredibly stupid of you," Maura said.

Jane shrugged. She understood Maura's concern but it was over and done with. It had been a necessary risk. They may have been shaken up but not much more than that.

Maura shook her head at Jane's indifference to what had happened. She could be so stubborn sometimes.

"Alex?"

The woman looked up from her hands. After Fin had been dragged out by the officer she had retreated to the side. She wanted to give the detectives and the doctor space. Now their eyes were on her. She swallowed hard preparing herself for whatever Jane was going to say to her.

"Yes Detective?"

"Thank you. I owe you one."

Alex shook her head. She appreciated the sentiment but she didn't deserve it. "You don't owe me a thing. You got the guy that's all that matters."

Jane arched an eyebrow. Alex seemed to have shut down in the past couple of minutes. She kept staring at her hands and feet. She kept breaking eye contact with Jane. She wouldn't even look Maura or Korsak in the eye. _She still blames herself for what happened._ Even after seeing how easy it was for Fin to lose his temper she received no closure. Jane felt a pang of guilt. She'd allowed Alex to be there so she could find out why. Now that Alex knew it could have been anything that caused Fin to kill Grace she was left wondering if she could have prevented it.

"We should get this squared away," she suggested.

No one argued.

XXXXX

Half an hour later the four of them sat around Jane's desk. No one spoke for a long time. It was unusual for such a silence to fall over them after closing a case. With Alex there something changed. She had hardly spoken since they had moved out of the interrogation room. Jane could see Alex was fighting with herself. The conflict was clear as day in her gray eyes.

"So what are you going to do now?" Jane finally asked breaking the uncomfortable silence between them.

"I honestly don't know," Alex sighed. "I came here to get away from what happened in New York… I guess it followed me here."

"I really am sorry Alex."

"We all are," Maura added.

"Don't be. It's none of your faults," Alex insisted. "Bad luck just seems to follow me."

Jane squeezed Alex's shoulder in an attempt of reassurance. She really felt bad for the woman. Alex hadn't asked for any of this to happen. She definitely hadn't deserved any of it. She had been a broken woman holding down a career and trying to get away from her past. She hadn't done anything to be anything less than another face in the crowd.

"I've got nothing left here. One of my friends is dead, the other hates me and wishes I was dead. I lost my job a couple of weeks ago and I can't box anymore." She smiled finding humor in her predicament. "All I've got is that dog… Speaking of which where is my dog?"

"I left him with Detective Rizzoli, he'll bring him up," Korsak said.

Alex gave Jane a confused look. "You mean to tell me there's more of you?"

Jane chuckled: "He's my brother."

"I figured that much."

They fell silent again as they waited for Frankie to bring up Blue. It was only a few minutes but it felt like forever.

When Frankie walked in with Blue there was an immediate change in Alex's demeanor. She jumped up and went right to the pitbull. They seemed equally excited to see each other. Alex hugged the dog tightly as he tried to lick her face. The others watched the reunion. Alex had only been away from Blue for a day. It almost was like she had been gone for a year.

Finally, Alex stood up and thanked Frankie. He nodded and moved away. Alex turned back to the group. Her smile was genuine this time.

"Thank you, for everything," she said. "And Detective Rizzoli…you're not as bad as I thought. I really misjudged you."

"I misjudged you too Alex," Jane said. "Take care of yourself."

Alex nodded one last time before starting towards the elevators. Together Jane, Maura and Korsak watched her until she stepped on the elevator and the doors slid shut. Jane found herself searching for Maura's hand.

At first Maura pulled away but upon seeing Jane's face she took Jane's hand in hers with a smile. Jane smiled back, glad that Maura wasn't rejecting her.

"Are you just going to let her go?" she asked.

"That is how things work around here," Jane replied.

"She needs someone Jane," Maura continued. "You saw her."

"Yeah I did but what exactly are you suggesting I do?"

"Show some compassion. You don't have to be a friend but you should remind her she isn't alone."

Jane rubbed her eyes. She wasn't sure if she was up to arguing with Maura. The blonde cared way too much about a woman they barely knew. The look Maura was giving her was enough to tell her she wasn't getting out of it easily.

"How is it you can convince me so easily?" Jane asked.

"You'll figure it out eventually," Maura answered. "Now go."

XXXXX

Alex stopped in the lobby after hearing someone shout her name. To her surprise Jane came up to her, panting. It appeared as if Jane had taken the stairs to catch up with her. Blue pawed at the Detective's leg but he was ignored.

"Can I do something for you Detective?"

"No," Jane said. "I mean sort of. Listen a couple of us are getting together to watch the Sox's game this weekend. Maybe you could join us."

Alex grinned: "Dr. Isles told you to invite me didn't she?"

"Yeah pretty much." No point in lying if Alex already knew the truth.

"What about you? You want me there?" she asked.

Jane rubbed the back of her neck. Having Alex join her and the others wouldn't hurt anyone.

"I wouldn't mind having some more time to get to know you," Jane admitted with slight hesitation.

"I'd like that," Alex agreed.

"I'll let you know where to be."

"Here." Alex pulled out her wallet and removed a business card from it. "It's an old card but my number is the same."

"I'll let you know where to be," Jane said. "I'll see you Saturday."

"Yes you will," Alex grinned.

XXXXX

Jane sat back on the couch, her feet propped on the coffee table in front of her. Maura had stretched out with her head on Jane's lap. They hadn't spoken in over an hour. Two unfinished glasses of wine sat on the counter, waiting for the two to return and finish their earlier conversation. Jane stared blankly at the wall one hand running through Maura's hair. It was the first time that Jane had been able to relax in weeks. She was exhausted.

"Something on your mind Jane?" Maura asked.

"I'm just tired," Jane said, punctuating the statement with a yawn. "Today was a long day."

"I know." Maura ran her fingers over Jane's bruised neck. "Do you want to go to bed?"

"Only if you want to."

Maura pulled herself up with a smile. Even now Jane was putting Maura ahead of herself. For that Maura was grateful. But in that moment she wanted Jane to decide. Jane, sensing Maura's hesitation, pulled the blonde onto her lap. She wrapped her arms around Maura's waist, the buried her face against Maura's neck. She could have stayed like they were forever. Maura's hand now running through her hair.

"I'm asking you Jane," Maura reiterated. "What do you want?"

"I already have what I want," Jane muttered.

Maura took Jane's chin between her fingers asking for the detective to look at her. Tired brown eyes stared back at her.

"I won't hold it against you if you want to go to bed."

Jane reached one hand up and ran it along Maura's neck and jaw, her thumb gently stroking along Maura's cheek. Beneath her fingers she could feel the stead rhythm of the blonde's pulse. She could not begin to understand how she had been so unbelievably lucky to have this woman to herself. Only two short days had passed since Jane had admitted how she felt and she was already convinced she was in love with Maura.

Maura closed the space between them, bringing their lips together. She heard a soft sigh from Jane, and felt the detective's lips part. Maura took full advantage of the invitation and deepened the kiss. She felt one of Jane's hand on the back of her head, the other remained on her waist pulling her closer.

Jane could have never imagined that a simple kiss, that this connection between her and Maura, was all it would take to dissolve all of the self-doubt she had been living with over the years.

They finally broke away, needing a moment to catch their breath. Maura rested her forehead against Jane's. All the fear Maura had felt in Jane from before was gone. It had been replaced by something else Maura couldn't quite put her finger on.

"I've changed my mind," Jane announced. "I know what I'd like to do."

"And what would that be?" Maura asked smiling.

Jane slid an arm under Maura's legs the other arm moved to her back. It took Jane some effort but she managed to stand up from the couch still holding Maura. She grinned at Maura and started back towards the bedroom.

"My legs work just fine you know."

"Are you complaining?"

"Not at all."

Once they reached the bed Jane let Maura down so they stood inches from one another. Jane was sure Maura understood her intent but she had to be sure.

"Do you want this?"

"Have I done anything to make you think otherwise?" Maura leaned closer to whisper into Jane's ear. "I'm yours Jane. I have been for a long time."

When Jane didn't move Maura took it upon herself to get the brunette to act. She took Jane's hand and pulled her onto the bed. She had never seen Jane so unsure of herself. The brunette had always been the embodiment of confidence, but now all that confidence was gone. Maura didn't want Jane to be afraid of giving into her desires, which was what Maura feared was the reason Jane was so hesitant.

"Maura I…"

Maura didn't allow Jane to finish. She pulled Jane so the brunette was on top of her. They stared into each other's eyes which were both dark with want and need.

"Enough talking Jane," Maura insisted. "You started this."

Jane brought their lips together again. There wasn't so much as a pause before Jane's tongue slowly stroked against Maura's. A moan escaped one of them as they brought their bodies together. Jane was consumed with her need to have all of Maura. She broke away and began to leave a hot trail of kisses down Maura's neck, stopping only to leave her mark just above the blonde's collar bone.

Maura moaned as Jane's hands ran over her. Whatever had caused Jane's hesitation before was gone, only to be replaced with desire. Jane tugged at the hem of Maura's shirt, clearly annoyed by the piece of clothing.

"This needs to go."

Jane sat back and pulled Maura up with her. They couldn't get undressed fast enough. Jane helped Maura out of her bra and panties before removing her own bra. Maura's fingers scrapped at the elastic of Jane's boxers clearly wanting them gone. Seconds later they stared at each other. It wasn't the first time they had seen each other naked but this was different.

Maura reached out her fingers brushing against Jane' breasts before cupping them. She closed the distance between them pressing up against Jane. The detective hands were all over her. running down her sides coming back up so cup her firm breasts. Jane leaned down and rolled her tongue over Maura's hardened nipple.

"Jane…"

Maura's voice was no more than a whimper but it was enough for Jane. She pushed Maura onto her back and settled between the smaller woman's legs. There was no more waiting. Jane couldn't stand it any longer. Desire drove her. She reached down between them and was greeted with slick heat. Jane moaned. Maura was so ready for her; the blonde was pleading in her ear.

Jane pumped into Maura, curling her fingers bringing the woman beneath her closer to a climax. She knew Maura wasn't going to last long.

"Come on, Mau, let go."

Maura cried out as she arched into Jane.

Jane smiled over at the woman next to her. She loved Maura. She knew that. It didn't matter that it had only been a few days from the time she had admitted her feelings. Jane loved Maura, she always had. What had happened between them just a few minutes ago only reaffirmed those feelings. Jane didn't care anymore. She was done running. This was where she was supposed to be. Where she should have been months ago.

"Hey you," Jane grinned.

"Hey." Maura smiled almost shyly back at Jane. She had never been a shy person when it came to much of anything.

"You look tired." Jane wasn't sure what else to say. "I won't hold it against you if you want to sleep."

Maura pulled herself closer to Jane. She felt the detective's arms around her, almost protectively. She enjoyed the closeness.

"What about you?" She began tracing shapes on Jane's thigh, implying what she meant.

Jane chuckled. "We might be up all night if you aren't careful."

Maura moved so she was on top of Jane. she grinned as she pinned Jane's hands above her head and leaned in to Jane's ear. "Is that a challenge, detective?"

Jane smirked. She liked were this was going.

 **A/N: I plan on writing a sequel that takes place a couple years after this. I've had it in works and honestly once I finish these and 72 Hours I'm probably going to be taking a break from writing until I get some more inspiration. But again the sequel is still on the fence. It depends if you guys want more.**


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